Senior, Boomer, and Grand-Kid Fitness Fun in the Garden – Growing Rosemary Plants

How is your summer going? Well, spring really, according to the calendar. But summer according to the thermometer at the homes of each of my family members across the U.S.! The Sunflower House at my home is doing great. It's already up to about 6+ inches, thanks to my senior mom's faithful watering. I'm so grateful that she is a firm believer, and downright evangelist, that gardening is definitely one of the best healthy and fun physical activities for senior citizens! She stays healthy and I get great help with my gardening needs. As I keep telling her, we make a great team!

A dear friend found an interesting article about Sunflower Houses and Forts for us in the magazine, Above Rubies. It suggested planting other types of climbing plants in between the Sunflowers, starting them when the Sunflowers are about 6 inches tall. As all the plants grow, wrap them around the Sunflower plants. Apparently, if you do this correctly, it can make a delightful roof for the Sunflower House. What a fun idea. I'm hoping to give that a try next week. I'm planning on researching different types of plants in my current favorite gardening book to pick just the right one for our area.

How about you? Have you planted a Sunflower House or other plants? A small flower or vegetable garden activity isn't just great fitness exercise for the elderly parents and grand kids in our lives. It's also excellent for actively working to prevent osteoporosis and makes a great stress reliever for those of us in the need-to-exercise-instead-of-aging Baby Boomers Generation as well. And if the Sandwich Generation issues of life are keeping you too busy, perhaps just pop one ultra-easy plant in the ground by your door, to give you a sweet smile as you come and go on errands. I did that with a couple of rosemary plants at my last two homes. The scent is wonderful, and they're so handy for clipping a few rosemary leaves whenever I need to cook with them. Not only that, growing rosemary plants is usually quite easy, they can make great ground covers, and drying rosemary is easily done, giving you plenty of dried rosemary for the winter months. (Notice the emphasis on EASY! The only way I garden nowadays! ).

You can even add a rosemary plant or two to a raised beds vegetable garden if you already have that going. My mom just planted some along with basil and all her other vegetables. Good senior and boomer exercise, good fun, and GOOD food!  And if you'd like a good gardening book all about rosemary plants and other herbs, take a look at Your Backyard Herb Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting and More. Very interesting, easy and very fun for all of us in the Sandwich Generation.

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