Smell the Roses, Taste the Zucchini
A Walk in The Garden
 Botanical Gardens in the United States and around the World Botanic Gardens Conservation International is a plant conservation organization that represents more than 700 botanical gardens in 118 countries. Let's Do The Math If you run a 5K at a pace of 6 mph, you'll burn about 350 calories in 30 minutes. A 3-4-hour excursion in The Garden is a beautiful way to burn somewhere between 600 and 1,200 calories, depending on your walking speed and how long you stay on your feet. Strolling burns energy at the rate of 200 calories per hour; brisk walking, about 300 calories per hour. Of course you'll stop to smell the roses and everything in the herb garden. But in between, you can set a brisk pace and still enjoy the trees and the forest. Do Try This at Home Ask staff members how they do it. At last year's Edible Garden, I learned it was possible to grow corn in a big pot. Watch my own Garden Watch next week to see how mine's doing. While you're walking, you'll want to sip water regularly and frequently to keep yourself hydrated and fresh. Avoid expensive, environmentally unfriendly bottled water; filter and fill up at home and carry your own. When I hike, I always wear my CamelBak backpack with its built-in water reservoir and conveniently in-my-face water "bite valve" that never drips or leaks. If you don't have one of these, check out these handy 50-ounce and 100-ounce packs and this kid's 1-liter Pack. For something smaller, I use CamelBak's BPA-free bottle with that cool and highly functional bite valve.  
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Professionals have planted a garden for you. Go enjoy it. There are thousands of botanical gardens in more than 100 countries. Good chance there's at least one near you. One that'll prompt you to stay on your feet for a few hours; walk a few miles; get some free Vitamin D from the sun; and, burn enough calories to erase four or five ice cream cones. Buy an admission ticket and you support the gardening professionals' continuing efforts to make the world a better place by preserving our natural habitat. Here's the Garden Walk I just did - I'll bet a very similar field trip is available in your neighborhood. If you're in mine, click for the big, detailed trail map I made for you with the wonderful Google Maps. The Rose Garden and The Edible Garden at the New York Botanical Garden The Walk comes in several sizes: 3, 4.5 or 5.7 miles. How you get to NYBG determines, in part, how far you walk. I started in Manhattan and took the #4 subway to the Bedford Park Boulevard stop in the Bronx; the subway fare's $2.25. From there, it's a 3/4-mile walk to the Garden's entrance; round trip, 1.5 miles. It's a pleasant walk on wide open streets; at a brisk pace, it's 15 -20 minutes each way depending on your personal briskness. Alternatively, you can take one of the hourly Metro North trains from Grand Central to the Botanical Garden stop; $5 for a 20-minute ride that ends right across the street from the Garden entrance. Inside, I've mapped a 3-mile loop trail. The first segment's just over one mile and in 20-30 minutes brings you through beautiful woodlands, across the Bronx River and, depending on the season, past the Narcissus and Magnolia Collections. Right now, you should make a detour to walk through the Howell Family Garden, a do-it-yourself test garden for kids that's currently a part of the Edible Garden exhibit. Then right on to the Rockefeller Rose Garden which is, in season, mindblowing. Hundreds of varieties of roses in every imaginable and some unimaginable colors. Could be a million blossoms. You're definitely gonna stop to smell some of them, but if you walk through all the rose beds and cover the entire maze of foot paths, you'll walk another third of a mile. Sure, you could power-walk it in six minutes; plan for at least 20 to 30 when the Garden's in bloom. From here, it's a 3/4-mile hike to the centerpiece Haupt Conservatory, the location of another part of the Edible Garden show. But my strong suggestion is that you take a 1.2-mile detour over the river and through the woods, just past the Stone Mill. The loop-within-the-loop on the map brings you through the last big expanse (50 acres) of the native forest that, a few centuries ago, covered all of New York City. The path will bring you to a waterfall in the Bronx River and between and beneath trees that are 200 years old. You will definitely have a 'we're not in New York anymore' moment. When you emerge from deep forest, you'll walk through an extraordinary 3-acre rock garden with a psychedelic array of alpine flowers. Then you swing through the Native Plant Collection and head back through the forest to the spot where you began this little loop. Its distance is equivalent to 24 city blocks; its experience couldn't be further from the city. Need a moment out of time or space? It's right here. Now you're back on the road to the Edible Garden where, in containers and raised beds, they're growing corn and the great-looking and nutritious magenta grain, amaranth. There's a hot and sweet pepper garden with more varieties than you can count. Tomatoes, eggplant, squash. Dozens and dozens of herbs. There are gardens they're growing for celebrity chefs including Dan Barber and Mario Batali. And, of course, there are cooking demonstrations. The whole schedule of events is here. When it's time to head home, you get a last, .3-mile walk to the Gate. If you visit on a Wednesday, be sure to stop at the weekly Farmers Market along the way. From there, you can cross the street to take the train to Grand Central - or you can give yourself another 3/4-mile hike back to the subway. Uh, about the title of Today's Way of the Day. Please don't pick your own zucchini. Just go to one of the garden-to-table cooking demonstrations. |
  Click for the big, detailed map Every Thing Is Everything A landmark 2001 study in the Netherlands found “in a greener environment people report fewer health complaints, more often rate themselves as being in good health, and have better mental health”, whether they're near city parks, agricultural areas, or forest. (“Nature and Health: The Relation between Health and Green Space in People’s Living Environment”, presented in Amsterdam, April 2001 and excerpted in The Trust for Public Land’s “The Benefits of Parks”) "... modest levels of physical exercise during middle age increased the probability of successful aging beyond 70 years ... [reducing] osteoarthritis, falls and hip fracture, cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases, cancer, obesity, diabetes..." Evidence Regarding the Benefits of Physical Exercise, Archives of Internal Medicine, JAMA, January 25, 2010 It's Always Something If you're like most people in the world, you're Vitamin D-deficient or -insufficient. Seriously. "Our richest source of Vitamin D is the sun. Most of us need only a few minutes a day of sun exposure during the summer months to maintain healthy Vitamin D levels throughout the year." (From The Vitamin D Solution by Michael Holick, PhD, MD) Don't suffer from Lack of Sun Disorder - get out and take a walk. Sixty percent of the U.S. population is now urban (living in cities of 200,000+ population), so ODD is widespread and increasing. Don't give in; get out.  Botanical Gardens in the United States and around the World |