Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

As to strength the feathered edge fencing is generally stronger if built correctly and concrete posts are used, if you use wooden posts they will only last about 10 years max before some start to go rotten. Good quality panels can last a long time too and are of course much easier and cheaper to replace.
As to your dilemma well its a case of priorities. As I have no children at home anymore I’d put in the concrete posts and gravel boards and wait for the time when I could put new panels in. However, I know that would not be acceptable to `she who must be obeyed’ because the little-one would go walk about and the neighbours family too. So I would put in a temporary chain link or somehow employ the old fence until I could afford the new panels

GardenersCardiff answers:

Do a butt load of research! Blogs, online books, YT videos, etc and look how much the cost is the both the mice AND the cage, food, bedding, etc. Then add all of that in a little essay, then put some pictures of some really adorable mice displayed in it (if you make it like a card or something) and show her some of the videos that you have watched wither its educational or just random mouse cuteness!

Then I suggest getting a small easy job such as babysitting, petsitting, house sitting, maybe do a little garden work to earn money for the mouse and its supplies (this will show responsibility and devotion!)

I’ve done all of this and I have $220 saved up for my guinea pigs (would be $300 but got attacked by a boxer with anxiety) and I already have 2 guinea pigs and my mom is going to let me have 2 more (:

hope this works! Good luck!

GardenersCardiff answers:

First, at 13 your body still has a lot of growing to do. You don’t need to do some short term change as much as develop healthy eating and excercise habits. As time goes on and you keep growing, good habits will help you be fit and healthy.

In terms of diet, there is very little debate about healthy long-term habits. You can’t eat too many vegetables. You can eat as much fruit as you do vegetables. For other food types, the basic news is: Lean protein is better, (lean chicken, turkey, ham, not too much red meat.) Grains should be whole grain, (Look for labels that say “100% whole grain”, the things that just say “wheat” are really just brown bread made with white flour.) Nuts and seeds are good. They have “Good” oils in them. Stay away from margerine and animal fats. (Good oils are unsaturated and monounsaturated, like that in nuts and seeds. Not good are saturated fats like beef and pork fat. Worst are trans-fats like hydrogenated vegetable oils found in margerine.) Lean dairy like skim milk is great.

For three simple rules that make a big difference; Don’t drink calories, No added sugar, No white flour or rice.
Don’t drink calories: No soda, juice, energy drinks. Skim milk is okay, otherwise, drink water.
No added sugar: just what it says. Many natural foods have some sugar. They have other things we need. Don’t drink fruit juice. Eat fruit.
No white flour or rice. Stick to whole grains.

The no added sugar and no white flour rules eliminate most junk.

To help stick to the rules, eat a good breakfast, big with lots of protein. Finish with a sweet treat like fruit. Then, don’t skip meals. Eat a healthy snack morning and afternoon, with a good meal midday and early evening. Hungry after dinner? Think of some whole-grain cereal with skim milk.

For excercise motivation, it helps to simplify your promise to yourself. Don’t promise you will exercise each day, just promise to get in your exercise clothes and go where you exercise. Once you are there, you might as well excercise. Works even better with a partner.

For what exercise to do, first, pick something you like to do. Basketball is great, football, (american soccer,) biking, walking. You get more conditioning from easy effort punctuated by sprints than from pushing all the time. Get a habit of at least three times a week where you sweat for at least 40 minutes doing something. Then add weight training once or twice a week. (Ask at school for when you can use the weights.) The FUN part is the biggest part of maintaining a plan. That, or the chance to see and be seen by the boys or girls, (whichever motivates.)