Garden Fit on PBS
Combines Gardening and Muscle Mindfulness
By: PBS - Feb 15, 2022
A new public television series premiering March 2022 presents the opportunity for people to take care of their bodies, while taking care of their gardens. ‘GardenFit’ is the first television show to help gardeners lead a healthier lifestyle through mindful movements they can use in the garden—and beyond.
The first season includes 13 episodes and premieres nationwide beginning March 21, 2022 on public television (check local listings).
Co-hosts Madeline Hooper and Jeff Hughes visit more than a dozen stunning private gardens and specialty farms across America learning about each unique environment and its knowledgeable owner. Every show starts with a tour of the property, highlighting the distinctive gardening styles while discussing insights, tips and techniques before discussing the guest’s physical aches and pains. Hughes uses his tested common-sense fitness approach to analyze these issues and provide advice and solutions with the goal of getting the guest gardener ‘GardenFit.’ Each episode includes a four-week follow-up visit to show how the training tips worked and celebrate what’s new in the garden, all captured in beautifully shot cinematography.
“We’re not teaching people how to garden,” says co-host Hooper. “We’re starting a GardenFit movement that integrates gardening with fitness techniques to prevent aches and pains.”
Hooper has been gardening on 10 acres in upstate New York for over 20 years. As a trustee of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Berkshire Botanical Garden, she has explored the finest gardens in the U.S. and Europe and created relationships with leading horticulturalists, garden designers, and plantspeople.
“Gardening is a healthy and creative hobby but can take a toll on the body if you aren’t careful,” says co-host Hughes. “Through functional, basic movements and adjustment to their current garden practices, gardeners can feel exponentially better and bring the joy and vitality back to their hobby and everyday life.”
Hughes has been a professional trainer since 1988, curating programs for clients with a wide variety of needs. His training philosophy, “train the mind, and the body will follow,” works because bodies accept new habits that make sense.
Hooper connected with Hughes after she was experiencing aches and pain from gardening. Together, they were inspired by the success of the training to share his knowledge with the gardening world.
“Jeff wants to better the lives of gardeners such as myself,” says Hooper. “A session with him includes logical balance and strength techniques taught as new habits. I know our viewers will learn from him, as I did, how to garden smarter, and become ‘GardenFit’.”
According to the National Gardening Survey, more than 18 million new gardeners have picked up a shovel in the past two years. With interest in gardening at an all-time high, now is the perfect time to join the GardenFit movement.
‘GardenFit’ is produced by GardenFit Productions, LLC. The series is presented by The WNET Group and distributed nationally by American Public Television. To learn more visit www.gardenfit.fit.
About GardenFit
GardenFit offers a unique new perspective: Taking Care of your Body while Taking Care of your Garden. Expert gardener Madeline Hooper and personal trainer Jeff Hughes host the new series in which they visit more than a dozen fascinating gardeners and farmers across America who share their creative vision and gardening techniques while describing their aches and pains. Jeff uses his common-sense fitness approach to help the gardeners—and viewers—maintain their bodies while maintaining their gardens, with the goal of getting "GardenFit." Each episode includes a four-week follow-up visit to show how well the training tips worked and celebrate what’s new in the garden.