Text 11062, 122 rader
Skriven 2008-07-25 23:46:28 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Janis Kracht
Ärende: summer gardens in ny
============================
-=> Quoting Janis Kracht to Nancy Backus on 07-18-08 13:11 <=-

 > still takes Neurontin and Valium for the spasms... they seem to work for
 > her, and we've been tapering down the latter a bit lately.

 JK> Yes, Neurontin is another one of those 'treat everything' drugs.. they
 JK> give it so many people for so many things.  Glad her doc is tapering
 JK> down the valium.. it can be trouble or was for me. The docs early on

She doesn't seem to be having troubles with the Valium exactly, but with
the long list of things she's also taking, she was drowsy a lot, and
that looked like something we could safely cut back carefully on.  She
still gets an extra one when we need her to be less twitchy, like when
the foot doctor cuts her toenails... When she tries to hold still she
usually gets the opposite reaction from her body.

 JK> So as far as the spasticity goes, I'm just upping the vitamins and
 JK> aspirin and some re-started some health-store supplements that have
 JK> helped me in the past like Evening Primrose Oil, and Spirulina. 

Finding what works is the important thing...  :)  

 JK> She was drinking soy formula for milk until she went to kindergarten -
 JK> Finally when she went to school, I'd give her a thermos of cow's milk
 JK> diluted with water about 1:2. It was funny one day when the principal
 JK> of her school took me aside in the lunch room.. "Mrs. K, please tell us
 JK> if you are having trouble affording milk for your children, we can
 JK> help!' All of the teachers Sisters of Charity at her school - I had to
 JK> explain, that no, my daughter's diluted milk was for her health, not
 JK> for $$ :) :)  They were really neat sisters though :)

Sweet of them, though.  :)  And perceptive and aware.  I'm sure that
some people wouldn't even have noticed... 

 > I snipped a lot of lovely conversation about gardens... it was making me
 > jealous!  (G)   If only I had the time, energy AND useable space for a
 > garden... but, alas, I haven't any of the three...  ;(

 JK> I can undersand that one - it can be rough trying to find the time to
 JK> do get a garden going.. sometimes you're better off finding a good
 JK> vegetable stand or farmer's market and buying them there :)

When I had more time than I have now, I did go to the public market and
get vegetables there to process (mostly freezing, then).

 >   Some years ago,
 > I tried tomatoes in cages in front of the line of peonies along the
 > driveway, but they were only so-so, and only became less productive each
 > succeeding year.  Had rhubarb once, too... but I guess it wasn't quite
 > enough of a weed to survive me...  (The friend who gave it to me from
 > her garden described them as practically weeds... -g- )

 JK> hehe.. :)  Ok, if you want to use the same spot for your vegetables of
 JK> any kind, you need to either add to the soil about every 2nd or third
 JK> year, and rotate the kinds of plants you're planting... The pests don't
 JK> notice the plants the first year (most likely), but they will the
 JK> second year.. and by the third year, the dirt is mostly depleted of
 JK> nutrients, and the pests would have decided this spot is a haven <vbg>.

Well, I did plant marigolds with them, and never had any pest problems
that I was aware of.  :)

 JK> Most gardeners probably wouldn't leave the veg. in the same spot for 2
 JK> years in a row.. I don't.  I move them from bed to bed, and I add new
 JK> soil and peat moss about every three  or four years.  Now obviously you
 JK> can't rotate where you put them, but you can add to the soil and that
 JK> will help. 

I think I gave up after maybe 2 years.  Even the first year things
weren't particularly good.  ;)

 JK> How big is the spot where you are planting the tomatoes?  like 2'X2',

Probably 1', 1 1/2' or so by maybe 2' or a bit more.  It was the best
location I had, but I suspect that it wasn't all that good anyway.  I
think it will stay past tense now, since I've since put in tulips in
that spot.  :)

 JK> etc? Whatever it is, this fall go to your local farm supply store like
 JK> Agway, or even Loews hardware store.. get a  bag of top soil (I'm
 JK> figuring your spot is small) and if you can find a small bag of peat
 JK> moss, that would be great.. sadly most peatmoss is sold in huge bundles
 JK> that would be too big for your small area but I've seen small bags too.
 JK> Dig up the place this fall where the tomatoes were and dump that soil
 JK> and peat moss on it.. if you can dig it in with a shovel, that's best
 JK> (grin). In the spring, plant your tomatoes with some plant food and you
 JK> should have tons of tomatoes :)  This would be good for at least 3
 JK> years if you remember to give the plants plant food every year when you
 JK> plant them.. then in three or four years, you would probably want to
 JK> add more peat moss at least in the fall again, possibly more top soil.
 JK> :) 

I'll keep the instructions... I can always pass them on to a niece or
someone that might have the spot to do the gardening...  :)

 JK> The nice thing is, if you can get to the dirt stuff in the fall
 JK> perhaps when you have a slow moment in life, and the spot is all ready

A slow moment in life...  haven't seen many of them... at least not when
I had any possibility of using them for such... (G)  The last was when I
broke my ankle and was stuck in bed for 10 weeks, from Feb to Apr 2005.
Haven't even been able to cut back the peonies in the fall (or even
early spring) for a few years now.  They look ok once the new growth is
fully up, but the ground is full of dead stalks now... I've GOT to get
to them this year...  :)

 JK> in the spring, then you can just buy some tomato plants in the spring
 JK> and stick them in it with some plant food.. much less time consuming
 JK> than dealing with seeds, etc. 

That is what I did, back when I tried growing them... I used the plants,
and did give them some food, when I put them in.  :)   I was young and
full of energy back then, too... probably 20, 25 years ago now...?

I guess I'll just have to settle for being jealous of other people's
gardens... at least for now... ;)

ttyl      neb

... Butterflies are self-propelled flowers.

 * Origin:  (1:3634/12)