Gardening is a rewarding way to relax and get in touch with the earth, but sometimes the garden path can lead right to the doctor's door. What good is organic produce if the process makes you gobble down half a bottle of highly inorganic painkillers to get it? Take a few precautions and ensure a positive experience.

Give Your Back a Break

Most garden-variety exercise is brutal on the back. Digging and hauling is a very different activity from typing and unjamming a copier. If your body isn't accustomed to the work, take it easy. Backs are very passive aggressive. They say, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm fine" for a while, when they really want you to go watch golf on TV. Later, pain suddenly sets in and you find yourself lying on a bag of ice, hopped up on Percodan and stuck watching golf because you dropped the remote and it hurts too much to roll over and get it. So take it easy on your back by making sure to take advantage of tools like wheelbarrows and long handled digging shovels, and make sure to use a good lifting posture. Good posture means you don't bend over to lift. Instead, squat down and keep the load close to your body, and lift using your leg muscles. Back muscles are designed for balance, not power. Be sure to give them a chance before you start- do some stretching and warm-up. Even a short walk will help.

Get Crisp Lettuce, Not Skin

It's easy to lose track of time while gardening, and the work may distract you long enough to get the kind of sunburn that will serve as camouflage in the rhubarb patch. Remember that you can burn on a cloudy day, too. Wear a wide-brimmed hat that shades your whole head and neck. They're cheap and you'll look cute. Any exposed skin should have sunscreen on it. There are non-greasy types you can get that are less of a dirt magnet. If it's a hot day, take shade breaks, and drink lots of water; that way you can pee on the weeds and gopher mounds. It may not do any good but it's satisfying.

Leave the Pratfalls to the Professionals

Don't end up as a video clip on "America's Funniest Gardening Accidents." One look at a show like that will make you throw your rake away to avoid the possibility of stepping on it and having the handle flip up into your face. When you're concentrating on the ground, it's easy to bang your head against a low branch. And while looking up in the tree, it's easy to twist your ankle on the hose or trip over the cat. It's only funny if it's not you. Pay attention to your surroundings, and if you're too tired to be mindful, take a break. And watch out for that headrush when you stand.

Break It Up

You're going to be less sore from an hour's worth of digging if you do it in ten minute increments rather than all at once. Your muscles will appreciate the chance to regroup. During heavy labor breaks, you can prune, water, and hunt snails. Break up your weeding too. Tendonitis, the tennis elbow type, is a common gardener's ailment. That constant pulling motion is hard on a person, and the result is painful and slow to heal. If you're really not accustomed to physical labor, consider working an hour every day rather than taking a whole Saturday to get the work done. It'll give your body a chance to strengthen without hurting. "No pain no gain?" No thanks.

Blood Makes Lousy Fertilizer

Too much salt. Be extra careful working with sharp tools, particularly the motorized kind. Gloves will help protect you from cuts as well as blistering. Smart gardeners also have some earplugs, dust masks, and kneepads close by. Use your common sense--don't wear shorts while using a weed-whacker, and don't mow barefoot. If you haven't gotten a tetanus shot in the past ten years, even a beautiful rose can lay you out with one prick.

Poison Doesn't Know You From a Bug.

Don't assume that anything approved for the average idiot consumer is idiot proof. Many gardening chemicals are powerful stuff, particularly pesticides, and if misused you can get seriously ill. Read the label, even if you have to get super-powered reading glasses to deal with the three-point font. Standard precautions for chemicals include latex gloves and respirators.

Keep it Clean

The outside world has lots of kinds of bacteria lurking around. Most of it is harmless, but wash your hands frequently to be on the safe side, especially if you've spotted the neighbor's cat using your flowerbed as a litterbox.