GV exercise expert finds respite in his backyard

Well-known Green Valley exercise therapist Ed “Thumper” Thornton spends most of his daylight hours assisting folks on their way back from physical challenges.

Life at “Mind to Motion” in Madera Plaza is filled with pilates mat routines, exercise machines and therapy, all liberally laced with enthusiasm, hard work and hope.

Each day, Thornton and his beautiful wife, Victoria, lead the pack toward physical independence and fitness.

Many success stories have come from working out with this couple, sometimes learning to live a life with new challenges and new rules.

A lot of people in this community have become stronger and more fit because of encouragement from the Thorntons.

So what does this former Tucson police officer and Vietnam veteran do in his spare time? What does he do for personal relaxation?

He will enthusiastically tell you that gardening is his personal therapy for the “off hours.”

A farm boy from Indiana, he has his own brand of tending his plots, averaging three hours each day working in the garden.

Calling gardening “the slowest of art forms,” he has the patience to let plants take their time to grow and develop. He has been working over a year on his landscape.

Formerly wildly overgrown, the backyard soil has been amended, carved into various beds and planted with an eclectic mix of annuals, perennials, shrubs, trellised vines, dwarf citrus, an extensive herb collection and a variety of vegetables. Curving gravel paths wind around the beds. Petunias, pansies, snapdragons and dianthus, all annuals, continue to reseed, returning yearly.

Perennials include hollyhocks, lantana, and vinca. There are feather bush, magnolias, bottlebrush, Texas rangers, and a number of lovely old native mesquite trees.

Newly planted against one yard wall are healthy wisteria vines.

Scattered around the gardens are personal treasures and garden art pieces such as tiny painted birdhouses, half containers and pottery.

When birds or the wind plant seed, Thornton gets excited by the surprises left behind.

For example, thriving in several spots is desert broom, considered a weed by many gardeners. He respects its tenacity to get a toehold where it can, and it adds punches of bright green throughout the garden.

“Succeeding despite the odds” is a favorite mantra of this man who himself has overcome paralysis to become a fitness expert.

As with physical therapy, small accomplishments in the garden are to be celebrated. Progress produces encouragement.

Successes invigorate.

Noted University of Georgia Professor Dr. Allan Armitage says, “There is no such thing as an old gardener. There is too much to look forward to when you are a gardener. Why else plant trees for shade in maybe 10 years, or plant bulbs in the fall for spring's blooms? It is impossible to get old when you look forward to the future.”?

He also suggests to never take your garden so seriously that you cannot relax and enjoy it.

Laughingly “Thumper” Thornton calls the five beds where he raises vegetables, his “testosterone valley.”

He built the beds from blocks, added soil made from his own recipe, and planted vegetables for healthy eating.

One of the beds has a fragrant selection of culinary herbs such as basil, dill, cilantro, and thyme.

The other beds currently contain tomatoes, squash and various peppers.

Veggie sun screens

All of the vegetable plots have neat frames covered with sunscreen for protection from the hot summer sun. His dream for the future is enclosing these food-producing beds into mini greenhouses.

He adds vitamin B1 and fish emulsion for fertilizer at planting only, and uses no insecticides in any of the gardens.

Around the five raised beds, turf grass strips were installed for paths.

This helps retain water and raises humidity, as well as tempering the heat. He has installed an irrigation system, with plans to continue it throughout the balance of the beds.

Compared to the rest of the garden, in this area summer temperatures have been reduced 10 degrees.

Thornton believes this is because of the sod paths, regular watering, and the stone surrounding the raised beds.

There are many parallels between working toward physical fitness and being a gardener.

The hard work, the successes, the setbacks, and the journey itself are all part of the story. When finished with his day’s work and the gardening,

“Thumper” Thornton can go for a vigorous swim in the pool, overlooking the Santa Rita Mountains and his garden, and can reflect on his work as creative and satisfying, his own personal therapy!

Mary Kidnocker is a Master Gardener who writes frequently about the subject from a local perspective. Her columns are featured each Sunday. She is president of The Green Valley Gardeners.