Category Archives: Mental Health

Common Men’s Health Issues and How to Address Them

Men often prioritize their responsibilities at work and home over their health. However, neglecting health can lead to serious consequences in the long run. From heart disease to mental health challenges, men face various health issues that require attention and proactive management. In this blog, we’ll shed light on some common men’s health issues and offer practical tips on how to address them.

Cardiovascular Health

Heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death among men worldwide. Factors like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking significantly increase the risk. To address this:

  • Adopt a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.
  • Exercise regularly, aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week.
  • Quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption.
  • Monitor blood pressure and cholesterol levels regularly and consult a healthcare provider if they’re elevated.

Prostate Health

Prostate issues, including enlargement and cancer, are common among aging men. While some risk factors like age and family history are beyond your control, men can take proactive steps such as:

  • Regular screenings, including a digital rectal exam (DRE) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, especially after age 50.
  • Maintaining a healthy weight and staying physically active.
  • Incorporating foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids into the diet.
  • Discussing any urinary symptoms or concerns with a healthcare provider promptly.

Mental Health

Mental health remains a significant concern for men, although it often goes unnoticed or untreated due to societal stigmas. Depression, anxiety, and suicide rates are notably higher among men. To address this:

  • Prioritize mental well-being by practicing stress management techniques like mindfulness, meditation, or deep breathing exercises.
  • Build a support network of friends, family, or a therapist to talk openly about feelings and concerns.
  • Engage in activities that bring joy and relaxation, whether it’s hobbies, sports, or spending time outdoors.
  • Seek professional help if experiencing persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, or hopelessness.

Prioritizing men’s health is crucial for overall well-being and longevity. By understanding common health issues and taking proactive measures to address them, men can lead healthier and happier lives. Remember, it’s never too late to start making positive changes for better health!

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Digital Detox: Managing Screen Time for Better Mental Health

In today’s digital age, it’s no secret that our lives are increasingly filled with screens. From smartphones to laptops to tablets, we’re constantly bombarded with notifications, emails, social media updates, and endless streams of content. While technology has undoubtedly made our lives more convenient, it’s also important to recognize the potential negative impacts excessive screen time can have on our mental health.

Enter the concept of a “digital detox.” Just like a physical detox can help rid the body of toxins, a digital detox is a conscious effort to reduce or eliminate the time spent on screens to promote positive mental well-being. Below we’ll dive into the importance of managing screen time for better mental health and provide practical tips for implementing a successful digital detox.

Why Digital Detox Matters

The constant flood of information and stimuli from screens can take a toll on our mental health in several ways:

  • Increased Stress and Anxiety:
    The pressure to constantly stay connected and keep up with notifications can lead to heightened levels of stress and anxiety.
  • Disrupted Sleep Patterns:
    Exposure to the blue light emitted by screens, particularly before bedtime, can disrupt our circadian rhythms and interfere with sleep quality.
  • Social Comparison and FOMO:
    Social media platforms often exacerbate feelings of inadequacy as we compare our lives to the carefully curated highlight reels of others, leading to increased feelings of loneliness and FOMO (fear of missing out).
  • Decreased Productivity:
    Constant distractions from digital devices can impede our ability to focus and complete tasks efficiently, leading to decreased productivity and feelings of frustration.

Tips for a Successful Digital Detox

Implementing a digital detox doesn’t mean completely cutting off technology cold turkey. Instead, it’s about finding a healthy balance and setting boundaries that work for you. Here are some practical tips to help you get started:

  • Set Boundaries:
    Establish specific times during the day when you will refrain from using digital devices, such as during meals, before bedtime, or on weekends.
  • Use Technology Wisely:
    Leverage technology to your advantage by using apps or settings that help you track and limit your screen time, such as screen time monitoring features built into many smartphones.
  • Prioritize Real-Life Connections:
    Make an effort to engage in face-to-face interactions with friends and family members rather than relying solely on digital communication.
  • Engage in Offline Activities:
    Rediscover hobbies and activities that don’t involve screens, such as reading, exercising, gardening, or baking.
  • Create Tech-Free Zones:
    Designate certain areas of your home, such as the bedroom or dining room, as tech-free zones to promote relaxation and quality time with loved ones.
  • Practice Mindfulness:
    Take regular breaks throughout the day to check in with yourself and assess how you’re feeling. Use this time to practice mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing or meditation to help alleviate stress and promote mental clarity.

In a world where digital devices are everywhere, it’s more important than ever to prioritize our mental well-being by managing our screen time effectively. By implementing a digital detox and setting boundaries around our use of technology, we can reduce stress, improve sleep quality, and cultivate healthier relationships. Remember, it’s not about completely eliminating technology from our lives, but rather finding a balance that allows us to harness its benefits while safeguarding our mental health. So, are you ready to embark on your digital detox journey?

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Heart-Healthy Goals: Small Changes for Big Impact

DFD Heart-Healthy GoalsFebruary is American Heart Month – a month to focus on cardiovascular health as an important part of your daily self-care routine. Embracing heart-healthy goals not only contributes to our overall well-being but sets the stage for a vibrant and fulfilling life. Instead of overwhelming ourselves with drastic changes, let’s explore the power of small adjustments that can lead to a big impact on our heart health.

1. Mindful Eating:
Small Change: Incorporate more colorful fruits and vegetables into your meals.

Instead of drastic diets, focus on adding vibrant, heart-healthy foods to your plate. The natural antioxidants and nutrients in fruits and vegetables contribute to cardiovascular health. Try adding a new fruit or vegetable to your grocery list each week and savor the rainbow of flavors.

2. Move More, Sit Less:
Small Change: Take short breaks to stretch or walk during your workday.

Physical activity doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym. Simple movements throughout the day can make a significant difference. Set a timer to remind yourself to stand up, stretch, or take a short stroll. These breaks not only benefit your heart but also boost energy and focus.

3. Hydration Habits:
Small Change: Replace sugary drinks with water or herbal teas.

Staying hydrated is vital for heart health. Make a small but impactful change by swapping sugary sodas or energy drinks for water or herbal teas. Not only does this contribute to better cardiovascular health, but it also supports overall hydration and helps control calorie intake.

4. Stress Management:
Small Change: Incorporate deep-breathing exercises into your daily routine.

Chronic stress can take a toll on your heart. Combat stress by integrating simple deep-breathing exercises into your routine. Practice mindfulness, meditation, or even a short breathing exercise before bedtime to promote relaxation and support heart health.

5. Prioritize Sleep:
Small Change: Establish a consistent sleep schedule.

Quality sleep is a cornerstone of heart health. Create a calming bedtime ritual, limit screen time before sleep, and aim for the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

6. Connect with Others:
Small Change: Schedule regular social activities.

Cultivating meaningful connections is beneficial for heart health. Whether it’s a virtual coffee chat, a walk with a friend, or a family game night, prioritize social interactions. These moments contribute not only to emotional well-being but also to a healthier heart.

In the journey to a heart-healthy lifestyle, small changes can lead to significant and lasting results. By incorporating these manageable adjustments into your daily routine, you set the foundation for a heart-healthy year ahead. Remember, it’s the consistency of these small changes that makes them powerful. Embrace the journey, celebrate progress, and your heart-healthy goals will have a lasting impact.

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What to Expect at Your Annual Wellness Visit (And Why You Should Do It) – New Year, New Visit

As the new year begins, many of us set goals to improve our health. However, one crucial step in this journey is often overlooked—your annual wellness visit. This comprehensive check-up is more than a routine doctor’s appointment; it’s a proactive approach to managing your health. Learn what you can expect during your annual wellness visit and why making it a priority can pave the way for a healthier, happier you in the coming year.

What to Expect at Your Annual Wellness Visit

Your annual wellness visit is more than just a quick check of your vital signs. It’s an in-depth conversation with your healthcare provider assessing your overall health and addressing potential risks and concerns. Here’s what you can typically expect during your annual check-up:

1. Health Review and Medical History:

Your healthcare provider will review and discuss your medical history, including any chronic conditions, medications, and past surgeries. This information helps them understand your overall health and identify any trends or changes.

2. Vital Signs and Measurements:

Standard measurements like weight, blood pressure, heart rate will be taken. These metrics provide a snapshot of your current health and can indicate potential issues that need further investigation or provide a baseline for future visits.

3. Health Risk Assessment:

You may be asked about lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption. This information helps assess your risk for various health conditions and provides recommendations for lifestyle changes and preventive measures.

4. Preventative Screenings and Immunizations:

Depending on your age, sex, and medical history, your healthcare provider may recommend various screenings such as cholesterol checks, cancer screenings, or vaccinations. These preventative screenings can detect potential health issues early when they are more manageable.

5. Discussion and Goal Setting:

One of the key components of the annual wellness visit is the discussion about your health goals. Your healthcare provider can offer professional guidance on lifestyle changes, nutrition and exercise, helping you set achievable goals for the upcoming year.

Why You Should Prioritize Your Annual Wellness Visit

1. Early Detection of Health Issues:

Annual wellness visits provide an opportunity for early detection of potential health problems. Regular screenings and assessments can identify conditions such as high blood pressure, cholesterol issues, and certain cancers in their early stages when they are more treatable.

2. Preventive Care and Immunizations:

Wellness exams often include preventive measures such as vaccinations and screenings. Staying current with these preventive screenings can significantly reduce the risk of developing serious illnesses and contribute to a healthier, disease-resistant lifestyle.

3. Personalized Health Guidance:

These exams involve one-on-one discussions with your healthcare provider about your lifestyle, habits, and family medical history. This personalized interaction allows for tailored health advice, enabling you to make informed decisions about your well-being.

4. Chronic Disease Management:

If you have existing chronic conditions, annual wellness exams play a crucial role in monitoring and managing these conditions effectively. Adjustments to treatment plans can be made, ensuring that your health is optimally controlled.

5. Building a Relationship with Your Healthcare Provider:

Regular wellness exams foster a strong and continuous relationship with your healthcare provider. This connection facilitates open communication, making it easier to discuss any health concerns, track progress, and receive ongoing support for your health goals.

As you begin a new year full of possibilities, make your health a top priority by scheduling and attending your annual wellness visit. Remember, prevention is key, and your annual wellness visit is a powerful tool in safeguarding your well-being for years to come. So, here’s to a new year, a new visit, and a new commitment to your health!

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Giving Is Good for Your Health

The holiday season is full of opportunities to spread joy and do good in the world. Did you know that giving—whether helping someone, volunteering, making a charitable contribution, or giving a gift—is good for your mental and physical well-being? Let’s look at the science behind generosity and why giving is good for your health.

Many Reasons to Give Generously

From the times you’ve helped a friend or neighbor, you likely know that giving feels good. Interestingly, research suggests that giving results in more than just a good feeling. It positively impacts our health. In fact, caring for others helps your health so much it made our list of the five lifestyle choices you can make to prevent diseases and be well.

When you do kind things for others, your brain secretes “feel-good” neurotransmitters, including serotonin (which helps with your mood), dopamine (which we experience as pleasure), and oxytocin (which promotes inner peace). We then experience numerous mental and physical benefits as a result. 

How Is Giving Good for My Health?

Helping someone else also helps you! Being generous has been found to: 

  • Lower your blood pressure—to a similar extent as eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise!
  • Live longer. People who volunteer are more likely to live long and happy lives. 
  • Reduce stress. In addition to increasing levels of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, giving gifts or helping others can reduce your cortisol level, making you feel more calm and less stressed. 
  • Cause a “helper’s high,” as a result of the endorphins being released. This improves your self-esteem, increases happiness, and decreases depressed feelings. 
  • Promote social connection and community. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science demonstrated that when we give to others, they are more likely to give to someone else in return. This contagious spirit helps create communities who care for each other, which is central to good mental and physical health. 

How to Give Back When You’re on a Budget

Serving others does not have to cost much—or any—money. You still receive the same health benefits from acts of care when you don’t spend any money. Consider engaging in acts of kindness, such as walking a neighbor’s dog, doing someone’s chores, or smiling at everyone on the street. 

Create a Giving Tradition

A study in 2018 by Fidelity Charitable found that children who are raised in families with strong giving traditions and who are communicative about the value of giving back are more likely to give charitably as adults, be happy, and have closer relationships with their immediate and extended families. 

If you don’t have a giving tradition in your family yet, this might be the year to start! Involve everyone by volunteering as a family on a service project or for a particular shared interest, such as walking dogs at your local animal shelter or making a care package for community members who have less than they need. Also be sure to talk about the importance of generosity, empathy, and respect for others with your children. This legacy of giving you’re creating will benefit your own family and your whole community for years to come.

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Where to Enjoy Fall Foliage in Central and Western Maine

Nature + Exercise = Health

Spending time in nature is excellent for your health, and so is exercise. When you combine these two activities and exercise outdoors, you enjoy many health benefits, including lower stress and anxiety levels, a better mood, and lower blood pressure. This fall, we share our favorite spots in our central and western Maine community to hike and enjoy the breathtaking views on display during peak fall foliage season. 

 

When Is Peak Fall Foliage Season in Central and Western Maine?

Lace up your hiking boots and hit the trails this month to enjoy peak foliage in our area. In general, the trees display their most brilliant fall colors during the second and third weeks of October in central and western Maine. If you want to be more precise or travel to other parts of the state, you can find the best dates for peak foliage in the Maine Forest Service’s annual foliage reports.

Where To See the Best Fall Colors, By Region

Best Fall Leaf-Peeping Hikes Near Turner and Leeds

Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner, Maine, offers 2,675 acres with 12 miles of river frontage, making it the fifth-largest park in the state. There are extensive trails available for all ability levels. Please note that hunting is a popular activity in this area, so be sure to wear blaze orange in the fall.

If you’re looking for a bit of a challenge and awe-inspiring views, you might like Bear Mountain Trail in North Turner. At 3.9 miles with some elevation, this moderately difficult out-and-back hike is well worth the views of Mount Washington and the Presidential Range in the White Mountains. 

If history is more of what you’re after, try Monument Hill in Leeds, Maine. The 1-mile loop is moderately difficult, rewarding you with healthy exercise as you climb up. When you look west, you’ll see a Civil War monument from the late 1800s erected by Major General Oliver Otis Howard. 

Torsey Pond Nature Preserve in Readfield, Maine, is mostly wooded, which makes for a beautiful autumn display of foliage. The easy paths include two lookout points over Torsey Pond, where you can see wading birds and other waterfowl.

Favorite Hikes Near Turner and Bridgton in Autumn

Hike Hawk Mountain in Waterford, Maine, is a family-friendly 1.4-mile trail with spectacular views. Try going in the late afternoon so you can see the sunset across the fall foliage. 

The Witt’s End Trail is a 4.5-mile year-round, out-and-back hiking trail near Norway in Maine’s Oxford Hills area. The easy walk is family-friendly, including those with strollers. People of all ages enjoy its stone walls and woodlands, which produce a stunning array of colors during leaf-peeping season. 

Also near Norway is the Roberts Farm Preserve. This 212-acre former farm has more than 12 miles of trails managed by the Western Foothills Land Trust. Centered around Lake Pennesseewassee, the autumn colors are especially beautiful because they are reflected in the water. You can also enjoy two large sculptures by Maine artist Bernard Langlais at this location.

For our Bridgton-area community, the Burnt Meadow Mountain Trail, a 3.6-mile loop in Brownfield, and the Jockey Cap Trail in Fryeburg, a half-mile hike, both offer panoramas of the White Mountains. 

Top Spots Near Monmouth for Fall Colors

Considered a great place for a walk, run, or bike ride right by Lake Auburn, the Whitman Spring Road trail in Auburn, Maine, offers an easy 2.1-mile trail on gravel and crushed stone. See loons on the lake and enjoy the peaceful woods.

Kennebec County trails include nearly five miles of paths within the Woodbury Nature Sanctuary in Monmouth and Litchfield, Maine. The Blue Trail offers three lookout points, including beautiful views of Woodbury Pond and Mud Pond. Please note that dogs are not allowed in this sanctuary.  

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How to Be Well

While it’s common to think of just your body when you think of health, there are other vital parts to consider: how you think, feel, and act, and the social support system you have in place—in other words, your behavioral/mental health and social well-being. These components (physical, mental, and social) combine to make up your whole health picture.

What’s the Difference between Health and Wellness?

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being,” while wellness is “the optimal state of health of individuals and groups,” which is expressed as “a positive approach to living.” Another way of putting it is that health is the goal while wellness is an active way to achieve that goal.

You cannot choose the state of your health, but you can choose wellness and exercise some control over your health. These choices are often referred to as “lifestyle” choices.

How to Prevent Diseases and Be Well

Wellness depends on healthy habits for your mind and body. These habits, which can prevent a whole host of illnesses, are lifestyle choices that you have considerable control over: nutrition, exercise, relaxation, sleep, and support.
Nutrition: Eat a balanced diet and stay hydrated. To help stay on track with healthy eating, download the MyPlate app for free.

Exercise: Be active! Adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise and two days of muscle strengthening activity each week. This helps your body and your mind.

Relaxation: Disconnect from devices and live in the moment. Mindfulness practices, yoga, deep breathing, and other stress-reduction strategies can help you relax and build up your ability to deal with stressful situations in the future.

Sleep: Get a good night’s sleep. Adults typically need at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

Support: Strive to make and keep friends, learn new things and discover new hobbies, be part of an active group, and care for others and yourself.

In addition to making healthy lifestyle choices, you want to reduce risk factors as much as possible. This includes practicing safe, consensual sex; reducing or eliminating alcohol use; leaving abusive situations; and stopping smoking and other substance use.

How to Improve Mental Wellness

All healthy lifestyle choices contribute to mental health and wellness. When you eat a healthy diet, for example, it affects your mood and can even reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Exercise reduces depression and anxiety as well, and it improves self-esteem and cognitive function. Relaxation calms us and clears our minds, aiding in positive thinking, concentration, memory, and decision making. Sleep helps maintain cognitive skills and too little of it increases stress, anger, and worsens mental health conditions. Social support fosters self-esteem, combats loneliness, and reduces distress when you’re faced with stressful events.

Being well is an active process. You have to keep making choices and sometimes changes to reach your best well-being, and sometimes you’ll need help along the way. As a patient-centered medical home, we recognize your whole health and treat all of it in one place. One way we may be able to help is through our integrated behavioral health care.

What’s the Difference between Mental Health and Behavioral Health?

As we see with wellness and health, sometimes terms are used interchangeably. So, what exactly is mental health, behavioral health, and integrated behavioral health?

Mental health is about thoughts and feelings. It includes biological and social factors that influence our mental state. A healthy mental state enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn and work well, and contribute to their community.
Behavioral health has to do with the specific actions people take. It’s about how you respond in different scenarios, and includes mental health as well as substance use, life stressors, stress-related physical symptoms, and lifestyle choices.

Integrated behavioral health care connects medical and behavioral health providers together, to collaborate with each other and their patients. It is a way of recognizing our whole selves.

At DFD Russell Medical Center, we practice integrated behavioral health. This blends care for medical conditions and related behavioral health factors that affect well-being. Because your physical, mental, and social health interact and affect each other, integrated care is the gold standard. Our team works together to keep you healthy.

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A New Year: New Ways to Achieve the Life You Want

Every year when the countdown to the new year begins, people around the world start the time-honored tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. Gym memberships rises, new hobbies abound, habits are upended. While we, of course, support making healthy goals a reality, a personal resolution might not be the best method to actually achieve a goal.

Less than 10% of people stick to their New Year’s resolutions. We strive to be healthier, better versions of ourselves—an admirable aim—but with that track record, we might be better off looking at options beyond resolutions, which can lead to longer-term success, increased happiness, and improved mental wellness. Better results … better lives.

What Works Better than a New Year’s Resolution?

Rather than plunk all your hopes into a New Year’s resolution, consider crafting a New Year’s goal instead. Resolutions are the big ideas—lose weight, get healthy, learn a new skill. Goals, on the other hand, are how you get to the improvement: the steps you take on your journey to a better life.

How Do I Stick with my Goal?

To increase the likelihood your New Year’s resolution will last past the first month of the year, make your resolution a goal, and make that goal SMART. SMART goals are:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Using these criteria to guide your goal-setting helps make your goal clear and reachable. For more on how to create a health goal, look here.

New Ways to Celebrate the New Year

If you’re searching for how to honor the new year with a new tradition and you’re not interested in a new goal, consider writing a Look-Forward List, developing a self-reflection practice, or composing a letter to yourself. These three rituals can help you on your path to a better life and they don’t come with the pressure and failure rate that New Year’s resolutions have.

Look-Forward List

To increase your happiness, spend time savoring the anticipation of an experience. You might very well find that you enjoy life more by looking forward to life! Positive psychology research reveals it’s healthy to contemplate good times ahead, and it actually makes living in the present considerably easier. (Likewise, those who suffer from depression often experience a loss of positive anticipation.)

To fully embrace anticipation, take time as the New Year’s ball drops to write a list of what you’re looking forward to in the new year. What’s happening in the coming twelve months that you’re excited about? Big or small, include it all.

Reflect Back on the Year

January 1st is symbolically a new start. For many people, the big, bold resolutions they set cause undue anxiety. Instead, why not slow life down a notch? Rather than look ahead, look back. Consider what the past year has meant to you, pick up a pen, and reflect on questions such as:

  • How do I feel about the past year?
  • What matters most to me?
  • How do I want to be remembered?
  • What habits do I have and what habits do I want?
  • What are my strengths?

A review of the previous year helps to develop meaning and purpose in our lives. Meaning, or serving something larger than yourself, is a strong motivating factor. Connect with your core values, and let your goals naturally flow from your larger purpose. This gives you lasting motivation to power through the struggles you may experience as you work toward your goal.

Write Yourself a Letter

To combine self-reflection and anticipating experiences, consider a new New Year’s tradition: write yourself a letter on December 31. Go over how the year has been and what you wish for the coming year. Then, next year on January 1, open the letter you wrote yourself a year ago. This ritual gives you a chance to look back and reflect on how your life is going so far. By putting what we want into words and seeing it in concrete form, addressed to ourselves, we connect with our larger purpose and develop meaning in our lives—major sources of happiness, mental well-being, and ultimately a successful life.

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How to Garden for Your Health

Gardening is good for you. So good in fact, it:

  • Exercises your mind and body. Planning, preparing, planting, and tending to a garden gets you thinking and moving.
  • Builds self-esteem. When you learn to grow plants, you learn an important life skill and accomplish something new, lighting up the reward activity center in your brain.
  • Decreases your risk of dementia. Gardening may cut your chances of Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 50 percent, studies show.
  • Lowers your blood pressure. Nature really is restorative!
  • Reduces tension and stress. Being outside and gardening lowers your cortisol levels and can help to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, giving you a chance to focus on something and put your mind to a task with an end goal.
  • Boosts your mood. Seeing plant life thrive and knowing you played a role in that growth is a smiling-inducing feat! Plus, gardening boosts your endorphin levels, and the daily dose of vitamin D does its job, too, in turn benefiting your bones and immune system.
  • Saves you money. According to the National Gardening Association, for every $1 you put into your garden, you get $8 back.
  • Gives you healthy produce. Fresh, local vegetables are loaded with vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, all of which has been shown to prevent cancer and promote health and wellbeing.
  • Improves your quality of life. How could it not, with this long list of benefits?

No wonder gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in America.

What is Container Gardening

If you’re short on space or new to gardening, consider getting started with a container garden. Container gardening is when plants are grown in containers rather than in the ground.

You’ll be surprised by how many vegetables can be grown in a small area, and you’ll have the added advantage of being able to move your containers around, controlling the amount of sunlight and warmth each plant receives to maximize its growth and food production. Plus, very limited weeding!

How to Start Container Gardening

First, choose what you want to grow. Easy plants to grow include herbs such as parsley, chives, basil, mint, and thyme. Additionally, lettuces, spinach, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, aloe vera, and zucchini are also fairly easy to grow and are known to thrive with container gardening.

Next, select the containers you’ll use. Old wheelbarrows, recycled food containers such as yogurt cups, terracotta pots, empty milk jugs, window boxes, and buckets all make suitable pots for plants. Choose a larger size than you think you’ll need to allow enough room for roots to grow. Make sure each container is clean and has at least one drainage hole (about ½ inch in diameter), which you can drill in if your container doesn’t already have one.

Then, use a potting mix or make your own with garden soil, compost, peat, and vermiculite to put into the container and put in your seeds or seedlings. If using seeds, each seed packet will tell you what conditions the plants need in terms of sun, space, and warmth, as well as how far down to put the seed in the soil. If you want an even easier option, start with seedlings instead.

Next, pick a spot. Most plants need at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. Some gardeners keep container plants outdoors in the warmer weather, while others keep theirs indoors year-round.

Water, water, water. Plants in containers dry out more quickly than plants in the ground. Count on watering your plants every day, beginning on Day One.

Keep an eye on your plant as it grows. If it looks tall and spindly or there are bites taken out of it by pests, look up University of Maine Cooperative Extension or MOFGA gardening tips online to troubleshoot any problems that may arise.

Now that you’ve got your containers planted, it’s time to sit back and watch your garden flourish and—the best part—pick your vegetables when ripe and enjoy!

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Keeping Your Kids Active This Summer

Studies show that over the summer kids can lose much of what they learned during the school year. By planning activities for your kids this summer, you’re keeping them physically, mentally and socially strong. The added structure to their daily routine is a bonus for the entire family.

 

Staying Active

Federal guidelines show that kids aged 6-17 need 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every single day. This includes a mixture of aerobic and strengthening exercises recommended at least three days per week.

  • Aerobic: hiking, walking, skateboarding, rollerblading, swimming
  • Muscle strengthening: climbing rope/trees/monkey bars, tug-of-war games
  • Bone strengthening: running, hopscotch, jump rope

 

Brain Training

Exercising their brain is also critical to a child’s development. Help keep their problem-solving and critical thinking skills strong, so they’ll be prepared come September.

  • Practice: Go through schoolwork packets together
  • Creative time: write and tell stories, draw pictures, build structures with LEGOs
  • New Skills: DIY projects, gardening, cooking—anything to keep kids thinking

 

Social Skills

Your children can still grow their social skills this summer even when social distancing. Being around their peers in a virtual environment will help them learn how to express their feelings, thoughts, and ideas.

  • Camp: If open and safe to attend, consider overnight or day camp which provides social skills, physical activity and brain training
  • Classes: are they interested in dancing, drama, or learning to code? Sign them up! There are many online and virtual classes available
  • Friends: a neighborhood party is a great way to be social and be active outside—just be sure to maintain proper social distancing and safety guidelines

 

Having a structure and routine will keep your kids learning, growing, and free of boredom. Planning activities that you know your kids will enjoy are key to keeping them physically, mentally, and socially active this summer.

 

 

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