【推荐2】Let’s look at some cost-saving ways to keep your garden watered during the hot months of summer.

The Time of Watering

The best time to water plants is in the morning. This lets the water go deeply into the soil before the weather gets too hot. If you water later in the day, the water will just evaporate (蒸发) from the surface. If you water in the evening, the plants stay too wet overnight. The risk of mold, mildew and fungal diseases increases.

The Ways of Watering

If you water quickly every day, it does not help the roots, which can extend over 30 centimetres into the soil. Water the soil less often, but deeply.

Be careful when watering very dry soil as the water will just run off without getting into the soil. Go slow and make sure the water is absorbing.

Catch and Reuse Water

One way to help keep costs low for watering is to use recycled water. Instead of pouring water out after boiling foods, keep it and reuse it to water plants. Just make sure the water does not have salt in it.

Choose Native Plants

Drought-resistant plants should not be overwatered when trying to keep thirstier plants watered. It is also best to use plants that are native to the area where you live. These plants tend to be resistant to drought. They just need regular watering their first two years. After that, they can live on just rainwater except for during times of extreme heat.

Keep Moisture(水分) In

Adding 5 to 8 centimetres of mulch (覆盖物) around the plants can reduce the evaporation of water and reduce weed growth. Make sure the soil is warm before adding the mulch. Create a 7-to-8-centimetre border away from the base of the plants.

【推荐3】This activity will melt away the pounds, build your body and leave you on an emotional high. Yet the form of exercise, the fitness trend of the year, does not require gym membership or a personal trainer. All you need to do is walk.

"Walking is a refreshing alternative to complicated aerobic （氧）routines and overpriced gym membership," says personal trainer Lucy Knight, author of a new book on the exercise. “It is free, enjoyable and already a part of everyday life. All you need to do is correct your technique, walk faster and for longer and you will lose weight?"

There is much evidence of the benefits of walking. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh recently discovered that overweight people who walked briskly （快）for 30 to 60 minutes a day lost weight even if they didn't change any other lifestyle habits. Another American study found that people who walked for at least four hours a week gained less weight than couch potatoes as they got older. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts medical school found that people who walked every day had 25 percent fewer colds than those who sat a lot. Best of all, walking makes you feel good about yourself "For people suffering from depression, walking three to four times a week for 30 minutes has been shown to lift their mood,” says Knight.

But how to walk your way to weight loss and wellness? Health experts recommend that we should walk 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy. Actually, you would probably need to walk at least 16,000 steps a day to lose weight. "Your workout plans depend on your level of fitness. You should aim to progress by increasing your walking time by five minutes every two weeks, and walk a bit faster. In just three months, the results should speak for themselves," says Knight.

【推荐2】In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest; a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the con test again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

An enlightenment came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into mine without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.