Spring is coming and with it beautiful sunshine, blossoming flowers, outdoor picnics and… seasonal allergies. Seasonal allergies are a nasty surprise for many people every spring and most continue to carry on their regular duties with rashes, itchiness and hay fever. It makes many avoid their garden and want to take many anti-histamines and zip themselves up in a plastic bubble.
There are some ways to reduce your seasonal allergies and enjoy your garden this blooming Spring. The idea is not to over expose yourself to what triggers your allergy, even if you have green fingers you can take preventative measures to plant your veggie garden and stay safe from your dreaded seasonal allergies.
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Choose a calm day to enjoy your garden where the wind is not going to blow unseen pollen at you. When there is a day that has lots of winds rather avoid the outdoors.
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If you need to do work in your garden (Spring is planting season), like prepping your soil or mowing your lawn wear a pollen mask and keep your skin protected.
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The clothes you were wearing in your garden needs to go straight to wash. Do not let you pollen-ridden clothes spread pollen around your home. It would be advisable to wash yourself and your hair after each trip to the garden.
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When doing your washing in Spring try and dry your clothes indoors on a washing rack instead of outdoors on a line as not to collect pollen.
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Rain is not only your gardens best friend but it is yours too. Rain helps clear the air and settle all that pollen. So after a good rainfall is the perfect time for you to get those gardening boots out.
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Although it is best to water your garden in the morning (to save water from evaporating) if you suffer from pollen allergies avoid being outdoors in the mornings as this is the time when pollen levels are at their highest.
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This is war, so seal yourself from the enemy and get armed! Pollen counts are really high at night and early morning so keep all doors and windows closed. Weather protectors for under the doors, dehumidifiers, HEPA filter air purifiers and vacuuming often aren’t bad ideas either.
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Did you know that you that you can predict when its better or worse to enjoy the outdoors? Well weather.com can for you. It is a weather forecast site that also tracks pollen. The allergy tracker lets you know which days are better spent indoors, taking an anti-histamine and which to explore the out doors…
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https://weather.com/forecast/allergy/l/Johannesburg+South+Africa+SFXX0023:1:SF … your welcome 😉
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Spirulina is said to aid as a seasonal allergy treatment…. so your Spring morning smoothies should have a extra dash of this protein and vitamin rich green stuff!
So lets enjoy our Spring, have those outdoor picnics, enjoy planting season in our Reel gardens and fight those allergies!
*Please note if your symptoms persist and your allergies become severe consult your health care professional to prescribe you the necessary medication.
Reference:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hay-fever/in-depth/seasonal-allergies/art-20048343
We had a reader reach out to us and suggest https://www.climacell.co/weather/blog/all-the-allergies/ as an additional resource that helped her alongside our blog. We thought we would share it here as it might help you too 🙂
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