Forget the gym and get to gardening?
Calories Burned Gardening

Fun workout? We never have enough time to go to the gym or do an exercise so it's good to know that just doing something that you love can give you a workout. We all know that when we are out in the garden it gives us a bit of exercise but we do not realize how much exactly. Working out in the yard is a healthy hobby for many reasons, the high number of calories burned gardening being one of them. When you do this kind of physical labor, you carry out a wide variety of movements that most definitely burn calories, and may even tone. The best part about it in terms of physical activity is that if you enjoy yard work at all, you aren't watching the clock or counting down the minutes until you are done (the way that many people do while they are on a treadmill). You can easily spend a whole afternoon or an entire day working without feeling as though you are putting yourself through a mentally grueling workout. Finding physical activities that you enjoy are key to maintaining a healthy weight throughout your lifetime, and this hobby is a perfect example of that scenario for many people.

Research says that three hours of gardening can have the same effect as an intense 1-hour gym session. The study was carried out with a group of 100 gardeners who were asked to monitor the amount of time spent doing a series of common gardening tasks over a four week period. Gardening tasks that were monitored included weeding, digging, mowing the lawn, hedge trimming, trimming shrubs and trees, raking, planting shrubs, and moving garden waste using a wheel barrow. Here are some facts and numbers:
- Just doing half an hour weeding can burn up to 150 calories and tasks that handle heavy electrical equipment such as hedge trimming will give you a good workout burning 400 calories per hour.
- Spending a day or five hours each week in the garden will burn up to around 700 calories
- Over a gardening season that works out at 18,772 calories per year, equivalent to running seven marathons
- The gardening hobby could help burn a million calories over a lifetime.

Calories burned with only 1 hour of:
340 cal - Chopping wood, splitting logs, gardening with heavy power tools, tilling a garden, chain saw. Mowing lawn, walk, hand mower. Shoveling by hand.
272 cal - Carrying, loading or stacking wood, loading/unloading or carrying lumber, digging, spading, filling garden, composting, laying crushed rock or sod. Clearing land, hauling branches, wheelbarrow chores.
238 cal - Operating blower, walking. Planting seedlings, shrubs, trees, trimming shrubs or trees, manual cutter. Weeding, cultivating garden.
224 cal - Raking lawn, sacking grass and leaves
136 cal - Picking fruit off trees, picking up yard, picking flowers or vegetables. Walking, gathering gardening tools.
102 cal - Walking, applying fertilizer or seeding a lawn
34 cal - Watering lawn or garden, standing or walking

Sources: DailyMail, CalorieLab, FitnessBlender

Grow Your Own Food...
Affordable for everyone!

Grow Food Not Lawns - this is the theme for our Garden party. But it's much more than that. It's a philosophy and a state of mind. One that more and more people are adopting as the world's food supply continues to dwindle and get more expensive...
Like all things plant and garden related, each of us can adopt this state of mind at whatever level we're capable of and comfortable with. Many of our customers just want to start small and see what it's all about. After all, the world of tropical plants can be more than just beautiful, it can be sustaining as well!

Growing your own food is more than just about price, it's also about quality, choices and availability. As you watch the choices, and quality of store bought food go down and prices continue to go up, maybe it's time to grow more of your own food?

Fun Facts

- A mature mango tree can produce 200 to 300 fruit per year
- A single avocado tree is capable of producing 500 avocados in one year
- A mature papaya plant can produce as many as 100 fruits per growing season
- One longevity spinach plant can provide you with a fresh supply of healthy spinach leaves all the time!

At Top Tropicals we offer a wide selection of fruit, including mango and avocado, and even spinach to get you started and to continue down the road on your own self sustaining journey. Even better, to help you with your food project, we have not only added to our varieties, but we have reduced prices on many items to make it even more affordable and enjoyable!

Who is cutting prices in today's world?! - We are, because...

...it's important that we do what we can to make it easier for our customers!

We have Avocados starting at only $49.95 and Mangos as low as $79.95, with dozens of varieties in stock! Use our discount coupons to save even more, and if you're local or in Fort Myers, stop by our Garden Center and save even more!

How to Live Longer? Surround Yourself with Plants!

Gardening not only helps you stay active and healthy but can also be a fun and rewarding way to extend your life. Let nature nurture you!

Living Longer with Green Spaces

A study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that a 10% increase in vegetation within 1,600 feet of your home can lower your death risk by 4%.

Why Gardening Could Help You Live Longer

- Nature Exposure: Being outside boosts your mood.
- Exercise: Gardening is a great workout.
- Healthy Eating: Grow and eat your own fresh produce.
- Mind Exercise: Gardening can reduce stress and keep your mind sharp.

Gardening and Longevity

- Many centenarians (people living to 100) garden.
- In "blue zones," where people live longer, gardening is common.
- Gardening promotes daily exercise and a plant-based diet.

Natural Movement vs. Gym Workouts

- 100 years ago, 90% of jobs involved physical activity; today, only 10% do.
- Walking 2 hours a week can lower the risk of major diseases.
- Gardening offers fresh air, exercise, and fun.

Gardening vs. Gym

- Gardening can be as effective as gym workouts.
- Research shows 3 hours of gardening equals a 1-hour gym session.
- Tasks like weeding, digging, and mowing burn significant calories.

Calories Burned in 1 Hour of Gardening

- 340 cal: Chopping wood, using power tools, tilling, mowing with a hand mower, shoveling.
- 272 cal: Carrying wood, digging, clearing land, wheelbarrow work.
- 238 cal: Blower operation, planting, trimming, weeding.
- 224 cal: Raking and sacking leaves.
- 136 cal: Picking fruit, gathering tools, walking.
- 102 cal: Fertilizing or seeding a lawn.
- 34 cal: Watering plants.

Fun Facts

- Half an hour of weeding burns 150 calories.
- Gardening five hours a week burns 700 calories.
- Over a year, that's 20,000 calories, equivalent to running seven marathons.
- A lifetime of gardening can burn a million calories.

How to grow Jackfruit in a pot:
the biggest fruit in the world

Butterfly Garden from Anna Banana

Butterfly facts

1. There are approximately 20,000 different species of butterflies, the largest of which is the Queen Alexandra Birdwing with a wingspan of 11 inches.
2. Female butterflies can lay over 1000 eggs during their short lifetime.
3. Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants which usually hatch within a few days, then turning into caterpillars. The caterpillar will then eat until it sheds it's skin several times, called instars, finally emerging from the chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly.
4. Butterflies are born to breed, their goal being to mate and begin the cycle again. Most live only a few days except the Monarch which can live up to six months.
5. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every fall and remain there until spring when they make the return migration.
6. Due to the continuing destruction of the rain forests, where the largest population of butterflies are found, their numbers are dwindling. We encourage you to plant a butterfly garden!!

Remember:

- A sunny, less windy location is best, however, Zebras love to float in the shade of bushes and trees.
- The more host and nectar plants you have, the more butterflies will be attracted to your garden.
- Butterflies"puddle". They like a wet sandy area where they congregate and sip minerals and nutrients from the wet sand and water.
- Rocks to rest and enjoy their beautiful garden, and don't forget a bench or hammock for yourself.

FREE butterfly garden guide from Anna Banana

For our local Florida customers, it is a perfect time now to start a garden with plants for butterflies that will appear first thing in Spring. Establish these plants now for the Spring blooms that will attract the Beauty into your garden!
Stop by our Garden Center to check out our Butterfly Plants display, or simply call Anna Banana for a free consultation on Butterfly Garden at 239-771-8081.

Hurry up while butterfly plants are on 4-day sale!