RICHMOND, Mass. — Two area farms — including Richmond's Black Barn Farm — are being featured on a new show called "GardenFit," which combines gardening and physical wellness while touring locations across the country.

 

The series premieres Monday on PBS stations.

 

"Our mission is to make sure that people take care of their bodies while they take care of their garden," co-host Madeline Hooper said.

 

The 13-episode series is co-hosted by Hooper — a gardener herself — and fitness trainer Jeffrey Hughes, who are both located right over the border in Canaan and Chatham, N.Y. The duo tours gardens from California to New England to learn about their caretaking and caretakers, and Hughes then makes recommendations on how to tend in the most "fit" way possible to reduce aches and pains.

 

Four weeks later, they revisit the gardeners to see how the recommendations are going.

 

"It really works for them and there are two things they're really thrilled about, one is that their aches and pains are gone but the other is they're amazed that they don't have to work hard to do it anymore," Hughes explained about his recommendations in the series.

 

"Their body accepted it, it made so much sense and they felt so good from it that they are now doing it without having to think about it and that was the idea of the solution was to not have to run off to a gym someplace, you can do most of these anywhere, anytime."

 

In Episode 3, the duo travel to Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, N.Y., which focuses on food sovereignty and African and indigenous traditional practices, and, in Episode 9, to Black Barn Farm and its creator Matthew Larkin. The farm specializes in topiary work and was founded in 2000.

 

Larkin and Hooper have known each other for a decade through their work as trustees of the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge and are currently the chair and vice chair of the board, respectively.

 

Larkin's talents have caused him lower back pain that Hughes remedied with a few leg turns and a modified routine for clipping his topiary designs.

 

"He is an amazing gardener," Hooper said. "And has a huge business making these gigantic topiaries, it's like a forest of topiaries, it's like a fantasy land, and so he also has to do an awful lot of clipping and labor and constantly complained to me about how much his back hurt, so I couldn't wait to introduce him to Jeff."

 

Hooper is a lifetime gardener and found that the more she worked on her hobby, the more pain she endured that was associated with the work. She was referred to Hughes, who has been a trainer for about 35 years and owns TrainerFit Fitness and Wellness in Chatham, and within months had no gardening pain.

 

After getting relief from her gardening ailments, Hooper knew she had to tell other gardeners about Hughes' solutions. The two decided that a television show was the best way to get the word out and before they knew it, Public Broadcasting Service had approved the concept last year.

 

Funding is being secured through an angel investor who believes in the mission of the series.

 

The destination show always starts with a car ride to the garden destination. Hooper tells Hughes — and the viewers — who they will be visiting and gives a rundown of the gardeners' situation. In this part of the episode, she also pulls items out of a "Mary Poppins bag" and uses them to enhance the conversation.

 

During the garden tour, Hughes is able to analyze the garden's layout and the gardener's movement to see if there are any telltale signs of tension. While observing, he also learns about maintenance and what tools are being used.

 

Hooper said this also provides an opportunity for viewers — and herself — to be inspired by the different approaches to gardening.

 

"The nice thing about most gardeners is that they really do create their own environment and all of the gardens that we visit really kind of broke all the rules and did what they thought was special for them," she added.

 

About 99 percent of what Hughes observes lines up with what the gardeners complain about during a sit-down consultation, he explained.

 

"When you understand what's causing the problem, then that takes you straight to the solution, the solution is to stop causing the problem," Hughes said.

 

"So in other words, if they are bending over to pick something up and their back hurts, I can give them a solution to how they can adjust their body and their stance when they bend over so that it doesn't put so much strain on their back and they end up incorporating their hips more or something like that, so that's simply all from observation and listening to them."

 

Being part of a society of gardeners, Hooper seeks out the locations and said the chosen participants have been excited to be featured on the show.

 

At the end of the episode, the gardeners like to reveal something about their personalities or work such as cooking with the co-hosts, dance, and Larkin even presented a challenge for them to cut their own topiary spirals.

 

"I think the show is very upbeat, it's just a nice, pleasant way to learn more about how to live the rest of your life pain-free because of Jeff's approaches," she said.

 

"And also to just enjoy gardens whether you do it yourself or just want to walk through one, so we kind of feel-good that the timing is right for our society right now."

 

Check your local PBS station for dates and times.