Top Talk It’s hard to imagine the great Joe Calzaghie being less than amazing at anything but the first thing he tells me is, “Lynne, to be honest, I’m useless at gardening”.
Maybe the softly spoken undisputed Super Middle Weight Champion of the World is being modest. “You must do something in the garden?” I encourage him.
“I sit in the mower and cut the grass sometimes, but only if it’s dry. That’s even a bit therapeutic. I like nice grass, I like to see it nice and short and tidy. My kids have got their football goals on the lawn. I think a garden should be used not just looked at. My neighbours got a great garden, better than mine, it’s full of flowers and stuff. I haven’t got time for proper gardening.
That’s probably an understatement as Joe has been training intensely for 3 months for his big fight with Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas on 19th April.
“I live and breathe my training,” he explains simply. “I’d like to have a proper garden one day,” he continues, “maybe I’ll get a proper gardener to do it. Are you free?” He teases.
“Do you mind if I start stretching while we chat?” the muscle bound boxer is incredibly polite. Enzo comes in with Joe’s tapes and tells me, “you should teach him to grow his own fruit, he eats so much in training.”
“It’s tricky, all that growing stuff Dad,” Joe shrugs, “ I only eat the fresh stuff though and all organic. The berries are best - raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, they’re full of vitamins and anti-oxidants. Bananas are really good for you too. Organic fruit tastes good and I don’t need all those chemicals in my body. Maybe I’ll grow my own stuff one day just not yet.”
What about vegetables? Shall I start designing a veg patch for him? “I don’t eat as much as I should,” he admits, “only broccoli and cauliflower really and lots of garlic. Dad taught me to cook so I’m a one trip pony in the kitchen, I do a really good pasta sauce.” He laughs.
“I probably could be a good gardener,” he says, “because I love the fresh air. I love the peace and quiet here in Wales, it lets me focus on training. I love the hills and valleys and the good air. It helps me deal with the pressures of fighting and Press conferences. I’ve got to go to the States two weeks before the fight, to acclimatise. It’s my first time in America and I’m nervous about training there. It’ll be harder, the air won’t be the same as Welsh air.”
He invites me to watch him train and I can’t resist asking if he gets nervous before a fight. “I get butterflies and a few nerves,” he admits “but never scared. You need nerves to keep you sharp. You have to turn nervous energy into positive energy. Positive thinking is a big thing. There are lots of mind games in boxing. You wouldn’t believe the things that are said before a fight to try and anger you. You can’t be angry in a fight, you’ve got to be cool and calm. You can win or lose before you get in the ring, depending on your mind set. I’m a Champion. I have been since I was 13. I believe 100% that I cannot be beaten.” And after watching him training in the ring with his Dad, I do too!
Berry Good For You
The blueberry is a heathland berry from North America. There are two types (as well as the cranberry), the Lowbush Blueberry which is really a fruit of the countryside and rarely cultivated and better known as the bilberry or winberry. I remember picking these as a child with Nan, and although not as prolific, they can still be found on some moorland and mountain tops. They make great pies or can be eaten fresh.
The Highbush Blueberry, or Blueberry for short, can be grown in pots or in the garden if the soil is suitable. They need moist, acidic soil and soft rainwater. If growing in pots then use ericaceous compost (and water from butts) or if azaleas and rhododendrons grow well in the garden, then blueberries will be happy there too. As well as healthy fruit you will also be rewarded with great autumn colour. Choose two or three year old container grown bushes for planting now.
Simple Strawberries
Strawberry plants will soon be available in the Garden Centres and Nurseries and are always worth growing in containers on the patio even in window boxes and hanging baskets. They’re a great way to encourage little green fingers and some strawberry planters and pots will enable you to grow nearly 40 plants in a single container. Available from all good garden centres and DIY stores from £7.99 to £34.99 depending on size and quality.
Pure Oxygene
Hubby and I saw Jean Michel Jarre in Concert last weekend and I was reminded that the cover of his famous Oxygene album is of a human skull nestled into a World Globe. See http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com/. It was designed to depict the fact that humans were destroying the Earth. Nothing new there – until you realise it was released thirty years ago – perhaps we should have taken more notice then!
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