MY biceps are aching and the palms of my hands have developed calluses.

My calves and hamstrings are stretched and my lumber region has a healthy warm glow. I can feel a pleasant throb in the muscles in my shoulder when I move them.

I have spent two hours today slightly out of breath, quietly working up a steady sweat and I have exerted my aerobic system by power walking on the equivalent of a steep incline.

This time last year this would have meant that I had managed to sneak off work early to make use of an expensive gym membership. I cancelled that at Christmas time.

Admittedly, the lack of exercise did mean that I put on a few pounds over the festive period. Mind you, I enjoyed every mouthful. I wasn't cutting down on my intake, and I didn't really mind an extra inch or so because I knew that I was getting out from an office chair and moving back into the garden.

Two hours of cutting grass in an open field must certainly be the equivalent of a good gym workout.

The added benefits though are insurmountable.

The sun was blazing down for the whole time that I was outside, which meant that, with a vest and shorts (and steel toe-capped boots for safety reasons), I quickly picked up an all over tan. It also meant that I didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of wearing Lycra, and shirk shyly round the edges of the room.

The field I was cutting was the kitchen garden at Clow Beck Centre.

It is nearly two acres in size, with, at the moment only six large raised beds set up on it, which means that there is a lot of acreage of open grass.

We had long debates about what we would use to keep the grass down.

Sheep were an initial thought, but we soon found that the woolly creatures could jump up on the raised beds and would be quite happy to nibble at any vegetatian that poked up its edible head up. Swans and geese, although great for maintaining a smooth green baize might cause too much havoc.

The rescued Christmas turkey at Nature's World was even worse though. He would wait for you to bend down and then take an angry peck at your upward facing derriere.

He met a sticky end at the hands (or teeth) of Mr Fox. It was a great shame, but it did mean that we could bend down on our hands and knees to do the weeding again.

We considered mulching. We do have plenty of straw, but that does tend to blow away when it gets dry. A layer of cardboard on top might have helped keep it in place, but things might start to get a bit untidy. Hand clipping or scything really would have taken up too much time, and would have been impractical.

A simple solution would have been to go and buy a large ride-on petrol driven mower We could have afforded one thanks to receiving a £5,000 grant from Awards for All.

But the ethos behind Clow Beck Centre is to try to reduce and minimise our dependence on carbon fuels, and try and garden as sustainably as possible. I have to admit that a ride-on mower doesn't really appeal to me anyway, no matter how big the field. I prefer to have a closer, hands-on link to the earth.

A visit to a well known garden and farm supplier in Northallerton gave us the answer though. I have heard of mulching mowers before, but never really seen them in the flesh. They are the size of a small to medium family mower, but what they do differently is cut the grass clippings up and then force the small pieces back into the ground.

There is no collection box at the back, and no clippings to rake up. The long term result is that the shredded clippings actually feed the soil, which in turn supplies the lawn with all the nutrients it requires. There is no need to feed the grass.

We decided that the benefits of the mulching system outweighed the small amount of petrol that the machine used. There was no powering system, which meant that we would have to push the mower through the long grass under our own steam. Two cuts later and the field could have hosted a cricket match. I, however, wouldn't have found enough energy to turn my arm over. I went straight home for a warm bath, filled with muscle relaxing essences. As I soaked, I reminisced on a good job well done, and began to look forward to my next work-out.

JOBS THIS WEEK Make sure that seedlings in the greenhouse receive a regular watering routine.

Prick out any trays of greenhouse seedlings such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, into individual pots.

Clip the top few inches off heather that has finished flowering.

Give the leaves of houseplants a wash with luke warm water, and leave them outside for a few hours on a warm sunny, wind free day.

Wartime tribute THE Second World War was a big factor in Britain becoming a nation of green fingered vegetable growers. The Dig for Victory campaign encouraged every man, woman, child, parkkeeper and allotment holder to produce food to keep the country fed.

The RHS has just produced a DVD film that documents this momentous effort, showing archive footage, interviews and recollections. It also focuses on the Womens' Land Army and gives inventive recipe ideas from the time.

It is available from most stockists, or from the Acorn hotline on 0845 1232312 at a cost of £16.99