newsletter updates

NEWSLETTER UPDATE

this morning i recieived via email the newsletter from the
alzheimers disease information network
when i read the first article
i said ruh roh

a new study showed that 'sleep is disturbed in people who have
early alzheimers disease but who yet dont have the memory loss
or other cognitive problems characteristic of full blown
alzheimers disease'

all of the study subjects were normal that is that they had no memory
issues at all but
about a fourth of them had positive biomarkers in the spinal fluid
(which i will blog about each friday over the next 4 weeks)
which means they had preclinical alzheimers disesase
that is they had beta amyloid and tau protein levels that were abnormal
and probably had beta amyloid accumulation in the brain already

these people with the abnormal biomarkers were found to have poorer
sleep efficiency than those who did not have them

ruh roh
i know that im in that group as i have abnormal levels of these biomarkers
in my spinal fluid and will soon find out via an amyvid pet scan of the
brain if i have beta amyloid accumulation also

and do i have sleep disturbance
no trouble going to sleep but i have restless sleep at night
just ask my wife
i nap during the day

is it the chicken or the egg
does sleep disturbance have an effect on developing alzheimers or does
alzheimers cause the sleep disturbance

my theory
these sleep changes occurs years and years before people notice alzheimers
and
the beta amyloid and tau protein abnormalities occur also years and years
before alzheimers in a person is recognized by the person and their family
those protein changes and the destruction that results
are the causes of the sleep disturbance


in alzheimers disease as mentioned above the beta amyloid protein starts
accumulating years and years before symptoms occur

researchers at the university of michigan have isolated a molecule from
green tea that seems to interfere with the misfolding of these proteins in the
brain thats been associated with alzheimers

so does that mean that we should all be drinking green tea to help
prevent alzheimers disease

maybe


nature.com

then a study from ut dallas looked at whether controlling high blood
pressure early in life may slow down or prevent the formation of the
changes in the brain associated with alzheimers disease

they looked at patients who carried the apoe4 gene which if you have
the double gene of it
like i do
you have a 15x increase chance of developing alzheimers and if you
have mild symptoms you have a 60-90% chance of developing
alzheimers disease

then they compared patients with the apoe4 gene who
had normal blood pressure
untreated mild high blood pressure
treated blood pressure

they found that those patients who had apeo4 genes and had untreated
high blood pressure had more amyloid accumulation in the brain
that hallmark of alzheimers disease
than
those treated apoe4 hypertension patients and those with apoe4 and
a normal blood pressure

so these results suggest that maybe controlling your blood pressure
may significantly reduce risk of developing those hallmark deposits
of amyloid in the brain

remember this study was done in people who are normal with
no memory issues

so gradually we are starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together
for the alzheimers disease puzzle

now all we need is some way to treat it or prevent it

the organicgreen doctor

primi piatti

PRIMI PIATTI

this is mollie ahlstrand
she is the chief at trattoria mollie's in montecito california
ask opra or presidient obama about her and they will
tell you about her restaurant and her story

this picture is from amazon.coms feature of this new book
on cooking italian food her style
organic simple easy to cook fresh ingredients cooking that this
organicgreen doctor easily did

mollie cooked the meal for my sons wedding party as she is a
friend of my daughterinlaws family

her story and her book and her cooking are a special story thats
told in this book

read it and the words i can do it will be understood

she speaks at least 3 languages is a fireball in the kitchen and
in real life and is a successful business women

so from page 43 of her book it took this recipe and got all the
ingredients together-tomato sauce shallots garlic onions pepper flakes some salt
and olive oil including swiss chard the main ingredient

this large quantity of swiss chard i cut from my garden
swiss chard is a plant that keeps on giving
i plant it in my garden and it lasts sometimes up to 2 years
i plant them usually twice a year and keep several plants going all year
we use them in salads when the leaves are small and the larger leaves
are used in recipes like this or in greens cooked in the crockpot with
kale asian greens asian cabbage etc
probably one of the most proliferative and healthiest plants you can
put in your garden
cook this recipe and youll agree

the salad is mostly from our garden
lettuce spinach kale green onions
organically grown avocado form my surfing brotherinlaws orchard
and then the only unhealthy but delicious fried green tomato from
threadgills restaurant in austin

overall a quite tasty meal mostly from my winter garden

thanks mollie for this simple delicious italian meal
and the excellent cookbook

the organicgreen doctor

do the funky chicken

DO THE FUNKY CHICKEN

not the dance but the funky chicken coop tour
its in austin about this time every year
my wife she and i have gone the last several years
and enjoy it every time we go


one of the memorable coops had an old television set as
a roosting box for the hens
you could look through the tv screen at the chicken laying
or sitting on the egg
so austin

this year we plan to experience the whole thing
from the talk on how to raise backyard chickens to the
author signing his book  raising chickens for dummies

theres even a bicycle tour of all the coop sites
no thats so austin

my wife she has this chicken purse that she carries around
with her that day
its always a big hit
people like to have their pictures taken with it
me i just hide when she flashes this purse around
i always pick my battles and this isnt one of them

my wife she and i love the tour even though weve done
it several times and have raised chickens for over ten
years
we still learn things every year
we get to talk to the fellow chickeners

i especially like to look at the different coop designs and
the landscaping that people have done in town on their
properties
many have rainwater collection systems

weve borrowed a lot of ideas for landscaping projects
and gardening projects over the years

many of these chickeners are young professionals who
enjoy the fresh eggs every day and the experience of
raising chickens

granted some of the coops humans could live in
the chickens are spoiled some of them more than
poodles are sometimes

so if you are even thinking you might want to raise backyard
chickens
you should go on this tour

if you have young kids they definitely will love it

im a kid at heart i guess and i love it every time i go

try it out this year
and
do the funky chicken

the organicgreen doctor

one and done

ONE AND DONE

if you are a ncaa basketball fan and a fan of march madness
then you know what one and done is

just ask kentucky
they won last years tournament with a group of one and doners
that all went pro
this year they got more of them and they couldnt play well
together so their team were doners
now they have a new crop coming in to replace these guys
that lost
those old guys wont get to play next year if they stay in school
so many will try to go pro

there are a lot of one and doners and one and doner schools
texas kentucky north carolina etc etc etc
and we as fans pay the price in seasons that are awful like
this year for texas and kentucky
cant even win a game in the third tier tournament

why the one and doners
the kids the real good kids cant go right to the nba from
high school because they arent old enough
they are good enough to play there but arent old enough
lebron james kolbe bryant and kevin garnett are examples who were able
to go to the nba from high school

one and doners are like kevin durant

these guys come in and play the one year then are gone
kudos to keivn durant in that he is going back to school
each year to get his degree even though he doesnt have to from
a financial standpoint

these one and doners really make the whole basketball thing
in college distasteful
even to me an avid basketball fan

then there is harvard who doesnt give out scholarships
made it past the second (really the first round) of play this
year then was wiped out by a  professional college team

then there is a team called florida gulf coast
guess they are on the gulf coast in florida
who have made it to the sweet 16
thats the 4th round
they are a senior/junior laden group that has played together for
long enough to gel together as a team
no independent players with that eye on the nba instead
of playing as a team

other teams have done things like this also like vcu butler etc
no laden one and doners

isnt it about time the colleges and universities consider stopping
being a minor league professional team for the nba and nfl and mlb
and invest that money in college students who want an education

there is a small division 3 school near here that doensnt like harvard
give out college sports scholarships who is playing in the finals of
the division 3 finals this year
no pros to be just students who will probably graduate and get
their degrees and become teachers coaches doctors lawyers policeman
like it was meant to be

yes

no one and doners there

the organicgreen doctor

bestest birthday ever

BESTEST BIRTHDAY EVER

this is the place that we my wife she and i had our best
birthday celebration we have ever had

my birthday is in march and hers is 3 days after mine
so we usually will do our birthdays celebration together
you know like when your birthday comes near christmas
so you celebrate your birthday and christmas together
and you sort of get screwed in the deal but not really
as every one celebrates as your birthday arrives

so over all its probably a good deal for everyone
involved

so it is and was with our birthdays over the years and
weve enjoyed it this way every year

this year we were blindsided both of us by a surprise
birthday party that was kept secret by a lot of people
who usually cant always keep secrets
(still cant believe there wasnt a leak somewhere)

ive had surprise parties before but you know its coming
as there are whispers and goings on that you recognize as
being different

well this one was masterfully done by my sons my smiley
sweet daughterinlaw and others
including the infamous wet suitcase sisterinlaw of mine
yes masterfully done up to that moment of surprise when
we walked into one of our favorite places to eat in the
austin area
ok it was ztejas

i would show the picture of my wife she  and of myself at the
moment of full impact of the surprise expertly captured on
camera
but if i did my wife she would probably kill me as the photos
will have to be photo shopped some before they can be
published
one person was real worried my wife she would pass out
from the shock
if you saw that picture of her at the impact moment you
would have too
she looked like she would explode all over

lets just say that they definitely showed the degree of surprise
at its highest level

now this birthday for one of us is not one that when you reach
it you want to celebrate and definitely not celebrate with a large
group
well my wife she has reached one of those and i had planned no
such celebration as i had warned her that i 110% did not want
one for myself that year
if she did i would get up and walk away
she agreed and i agreed not to do it to her

well it happened anyway but the fact that it was for both of us
diffused that bad year celebration away for her

it was celebrated with a group of friends and family members that
we would have wanted together at a party at our house

yes

it was the bestest birthday ever

the organicgreen doctor

new numbers

NEW NUMBERS

well here is some new numbers on that nemesis
alzheimers disease
its not better its worse

1 in 4 of the females who read this or dont read this will get
alzheimers disease if they live long enough

1 in 8 of the males who read this or dont read this will get
alzheimers disease if they live long enough

1 in 3 seniors die from alzheimers or similar dementias

deaths from alzheimers disease increased 68% from 2000
to 2010
while deaths from other major causes of disease including
the number one heart disease decreased

5,000,000 americans have alzheimers disease today
they will all die from the disease
its 100% fatal

in 2012 the direct costs of caring for alzheimers or similar dementias
will cost us $203 million of which $142 million is the cost to
medicare and medicaid

by 2050 those numbers are expected to increase by 500 percent

it may be the disease that breaks our health care system

its the 6th leading cause of death in the united states and
of the top 10 leading causes of death its the only one which
is not treatable or preventable

there are no alzheimers disease survivors
you either die from it or die with it

450,000 people will die from alzheimers disease this year

grim statistics arent they

how many of you have a loved one or family member or
friend who has or has had alzheimers disesase

then if the answer is yes which is the majority answer then you
know personally the devastation emotionally physically and socially
this disease can cause

support your local alzheimers chapters and donate to the (www.alz.org)
alzheimers associaton and participate in its walk to end alzheimers in
your area
and
encourage your congressmen to increase funding for research
on this disease that really affects us all

the organicgreen doctor

not again

NOT AGAIN

as a physician you are always trying to keep up with the
new recommendations for treatments
then whats the gospel turns out not to be later on

vitamin e was recommended for the heart and for stroke prevention
and in high doses to help with alzheimers disease
it was recommended for years
then
nope dont take it became the recommendation
you may be killing people with that stuff
thanks for letting us know

it was a whole adult aspirin to prevent a heart attack
then it was changed to a baby aspirin
then some groups said no go back to the adult one then
others said go to the baby one
so i take the baby one until they decide for sure
i even saw in some writings not to take it at all
guess they cant make up their mind
ill just stay on the baby one

then there was the hormone replacement therapy that was
aggressively pushed for a while
all those women were pushed to get on it
prevent those heart attacks prevent those strokes
protect those bones

seems if i remember correctly it was based on false data
from one of the drug companies that made one of the pills
profit over profession
the influence of lobbying in the medical field
all those free meals for staff and meetings didnt hurt any
or those free trips
lets see it was breast cancer heart attacks strokes and
uterine cancer it caused
now that one was a bad one

now here comes another one
this one is almost sacrilegious
the us preventative task force looked at all available research
and made the recommendation
that older women shouldnt take vitamin d supplements and
calcium supplements to prevent broken bones and probably
anyone else wouldnt be helped either

now that is definitely not right
all those women thousands (60+-% of women over 60 take this stuff)
who have suffered taking this stuff all those years and who have
suffered from bad constipation and from kidney stones and indigestion

if this is true
i want to personally apologize to each of you that i made this
recommendation
luckily statistically only half of you listened to me and did it
and of those who did many didnt take it regularly

interesting is that the companies that make all this stuff and
advertise it on tv the internet and in newspapers and magazines
dont agree with this new recommendation

so its with all of this in mind i looked at my handful of supplements
i was taking
and started chunking stuff away
if it wont fit in a small pill box then its gone
no vitamin d and calcium no folic acid no cumeric no multivitamin
no fiber tab

just down to my statin niacin aricept (donepezil) yes my baby aspirin
and my stomach pill omeprazole
it all fits nicely in my small weekly pill box i can easily fit in my hand

there has to be proof and real good proof and general consensus
among everyone that something really works before i will
add another pill into that small box

maybe thats what we should all be doing and try doing these things
exercise
eat right
drink in moderation
maintain a normal weight
sleep well
stay happy

no that wont work
no one can patent it and make money off it
can it really be that simple

yes it can

the organicgreen doctor

keyhole garden and tomatoes

KEYHOLE GARDEN AND TOMATOES

this is a keyhole garden that was made by a fellow workers
husband jim and has been one of the most looked at pictures
on my blog
it gets looks from across the united states and the world

keyhole gardening is one of our defenses against drought conditions

here is one of my two keyhole garden beds
well this one had the keyhole removed
since its small enough i can reach across and work on the
area around the central composter

i recently planted my bell peppers banana peppers jalapeno peppers
egg plants and two tomatoes in this bed
these will last all spring summer and fall until the first freeze next winter

then this is my keyhole garden with the keyhole in it
i filled this old water tank full of hill country garden soil and
layered it with cardboard newspapers compost from the country n chickens
then let it sit for months to cure

i planted my potatoes in this keyhole garden
it has the same square footage as my 4ft x 14ft beds that are in my regular garden
i planted 30 potatoes in this bed and all have grown into plants
the plants are up to the top of my composter now
hopefully well have new potatoes for mothers day here at the country n

i am always trying to figure out ways to plant my tomatoes early and get
them agrowing before the heat hits which seems to be earlier and earlier
each spring
once the heat hits and the nighttime temps get over 72 degrees the tomato
production slows or stops

then if you plant too early the freeze gets them
this seems to happen to my tomatoes every year
maybe not this year

i planted them down in a hole with a cardboard cylinder in there and
gradually let them grow out of the hole
they are now all out of the holes

i use a light row cover over them to protect against insects when they come
they are there just waiting for those warm days to attack

then if cold weather is coming i add a thicker row cover over the
whole bed (thats the white stuff in the picture)

lets keep our fingers crossed this year
just a few more days until all frost risks are gone

then i found this tomato at my favorite nursery the natural gardener
its called a mighty mater

it is a cherokee purple heirloom tomato grafted
(see the white faint ring just above my finger above)
onto the root stock of a tomato thats resistant to many of the
tomato diseases that can hit the tomatoes

the theory is the cherokee purple which produces a purplish
delicious tomato will now be able to grow disease free

so i hoping for a great tomato crop this year
i got an early start of over a month and managed to get through
several frosts
now i just have to beat the heat

but if im successful the rewards are worth it


the organicgreen doctor

goin green

GOIN GREEN

since green is in the name of my blog its obvious im for everything

thats green

im always looking for ways to do green stuff

i started working on habitat houses and it didnt take long

for my green to come out in their projects

ive recovered rocks and cement to use in landscaping in the

houses that are being built

then any excess rocks and cement i bring back here to the countryn

to use in my landscape projects

ive also recycled lumber landscape timbers and plywood to use

in projects

all this use to go to the landfill

then i started watching and helping with the landscaping

it was painful to be involved with that part

my feeling was that the habitat does such a quality job of building

the houses 

stuff just has to be done right or it gets redone

heck ive worked with contractors who said yall build these houses

better than we do

then when its done the landscape is quickly done to finish the job

the same quality wasnt being done with the landscape

as i told someone do the landscape like they were doing was like 

building a house without putting insulation in it

the homeowner who is already on a limited income

has to water their whole lot and its grass

fertilize it and upkeep it

in the summer half of their water bill is from irrigating the yard

and water is getting more expensive around here

and will continue to do so as there is more water shortages acoming

so i suggested xeriscaping

you know what happens right when you make a suggestion 

it becomes your project

so my goal was eg in the front yard was to eliminate as much grass 

as possible working with a limited budget

real limited budget

here are some pictures of the front of the house before it was landscaped

remember before it would have been all covered with grass sod

or seeded grass

which the owner would have had to water like crazy in our hot dry 

summers here in central texas

on the left side of the yard an old dead trash tree the arizona ash was

removed

the tree trunk was left in place

the ground was covered with packed hard soil that probably wouldnt grow

anything

we built an area of mulch that we obtained from a local landscape facility 

real cheap

they bag it and we all buy it at nurseries around here and at lowes and home depot

but when you buy it in bulk it cost about 1/4 as much

we added 4-5 inches of mulch

around the stump we planted in front of it a rosemary that will cover up 

the stump from the street side 

the stump will eventually rotten and actually increase the nutrition of the soil

on the other side of the stump a flame acanthus was planted which will 

provide a red flower that bees and butterflies and humming birds love

and it will grow to a 4ft x 8 ft size

that old stump wont be seen from the street at all

then we contoured the mulched band in curves around to the edge of 

the house edged with rocks obtained from the building site and from 

a relatives donation 

then along the driveway small 1 inch stone was placed between the 

mulched bed and the driveway and was extended along the driveway 

down the side of the house as the side of the house was completely 

shaded and no grass would grow

scattered large boulders were also added to this rock to help with the 

rustic appearnce of this area

then on the right side of the house we started win a area that looked like this

the stump in the picture was a sycamore that was severely damaged by 

the digging of the sewer and water line 

it had begun to lean some and had to removed

thanks they left another stump

this side of the front yard was about 1000 square feet

so we landscaped away 60% of this side and only laid

sod on 40% of the area

in front of this stump we planted another rosemary and added

a spineless cactus on the house side of the stump

both will eventually grow up and cover this stump so it wont be

noticeable at all

heres the final project

good landscape soil was brought in and the sod was laid on top of it

4 inches of the mulch was brought in and was used to cover the ground

on the right side and it was edged with that same rock

the tree on the right is a cedar elm whose roots were partially damaged

with the sewer line placement but i think we were able to resuscitate it with 

good revitalizer compost seaweed and keeping it watered

it is now growing its spring leaves and will eventually shade most of this 

side of the yard

xeric plants are planted along the fence to the right

knock out rose turks cap salvia greggii and 4 oclocks

a strip of rock was landscaped between the driveway and the mulched area

and the sodded area

all of the landscape materials except for the sod was donated by 

two landscape supply places-austin landscape supplies and austin wood recycling

so this home owner a single mom with two chidren will only have to water

and maintain a strip of grass about 400 square feet in her front yard

as 75% of the yard was xerically landscaped

the plants planted were from this free booklet gowing green

which can be obtained at most local nurseries

and even if they arent watered any when they get established 

they will survive

now thats goin green

we could use donations for landscaping

either plants or money

we need monterey oaks or red oaks or live oaks or cedar elms

we need xeric shrubs like salvia greggii dwarf youpon holly turks cap etc

so if you have extras pot them for me and ill pick them up

you can also contact habit for humanity and donate funds for landscaping

thanks again to austin landscape supplies and to austin wood recycling for 

their donation of supplies

the organicgreen doctor

they didnt make it, wasnt green

THEY DIDNT MAKE IT

the kentucky wildcats didnt make the ncaa tournament this year
march madness wont happen for them
for you see they went for it last year with a bunch of one
and doners that went from one year at kentucky
then they all went to the pros
they were all good ones

now this year the wildcat are paying the price
no invite

its the bastardation of college basketball
all the teams would probably do it if they could
get all those good players to stop by for a year

texas has done it with several players the most
notable was kevin durant

the problem is you get a new team each year and
no chemistry ever gets developed among players
right coach barnes from texas
this years team was probably the worst texas has had
in a long time

but this is my time of the year
march madness
its even better now then in the past since all
i mean all the games are shown on tv live

yea baby
overload on basketball for the next few weeks

this year ive not kept up with college basketball
like i usualy do but
this week ill catch up

i do the same with the pros
i dont really watch them until the playoffs

so i may not get much done around here at the
country n the rest of the month

WASNT GREEN

you can tell from my last name that ive got some irish in me
not sure what the percentage is

i always wear green on st pattys day but yesterday i forgot
to wear green but
lucky for me i spent the day weeding my garden beds and walkways
and managed to get green on my fingers and knees
so that kept me from getting pinched yesterday

that plus im green everyday in the way i live
organic gardener solar power rainwater collection
recycler

so i was green after all

st patrick died on st patrick day
he was a saint that helped establish the catholic church in ireland
so we celebrate his day with green stuff like green beer shamrocks
green flowing rivers

my niece had her baby yesterday on st patricks day
so thats one of my great neices ill remember when her birthday is
for sure each year
well there is another niece that has the same birthday as i do and that
one is a little easier to remember

the organicgreen doctor

thanks guys

THANKS GUYS


thanks to those guys and gals at the fda for plans to
approve new treatments for alzheimers treatment

previously researchers had to prove patients would improve
with the new treatment to think and remember and to show
improvement in their day to day activities

eg aricept (donepezil) does this but doesnt do it for very long
and does nothing to alter the course of the disease

so finding treatments that the fda would let them test was like
only approving drugs that might work on obviously terminal
cancer patients
the success rate would be low if at all and few companies or
researchers would be interested in investing their time and
energy into developing a drug that probably wouldnt work anyway


alzheimers disease according to the beta amyloid theory really starts
20+ years before the symptoms start
when that beta amyloid accumulation occurs and when its associated
tau protein destruction cell inflammation tangles and plaques start
thats when the time to attack the disease
when it starts

eg in my mothers case it would have been when she was in her late 40s
and early 50s
in my younger brother probably in his early 40s
in me if i do have alzheimers disease it would have been in my
late 40s when i was in the prime of my career

so now drugs companies will be able to develop these new
treatments to attack the disease before it gains its foothold

previously researchers were impeded by the old fda regulations and
feel that new research will now go forward to possibly provide
treatment early to slow or prevent this awful disease


alzheimerepidemic.wordpress.com
two studies are starting this spring
one is on a groups of colombians who are
genetically programmed to get the disease in their early 40s but who
have no symptoms yet
time will tell if using the alzheimers vaccine in this group will
slow down or prevent alzheimers disease


the other study will be using the old anti skin cancer drug
bexarotene which worked in the alzheimers worms and the alzheimers
rats such that the disease did not develop
it will be used in patients early on in the disease  process

maybe this new fda change will help speed up the pipeline for new
treatments and ways to prevent the disease

there is some hope for future generations

the organicgreen doctor

no germs here

NO GERMS HERE
theres not germs here on my smartphone and now
not on my computer

i  read an article from kim komando on how to clean
your gadgets

i had a patient who worked on laptops and desktop computers
he told me he used alcohol pads to clean his with after he
worked on them
the alcohol worked well since it evaporated so fast
others claim dont use that stuff at all

ive tried that several times and it works ok but my smartphone
now thats a different story

im quite rough on my smartphone
i guess i need one of those new caterpillar ones
tonka truck tough

i got a case to put mine in to protect it
my phone has a keyboard that slides out
so that i dont have to deal with not being able to type what
i want
you know what im talking about
sometimes i look at what i typed and its all gobbly goop
but not with this slide out phone

the problem is that the cover cant encase the whole phone
so stuff gets in there
heck i found a tomato growing between the keyboard once
since all that compost i was putting out got down between
the keys

when i took my cover off last time after reading the komando.com
article i really had a large amount of buildup in there
but it smelled good since it smelled like compost

she says
unplug it and remove the battery
guess you dont want to get shocked
use a microfiber cloth to clean the screen with
whats a microfiber
dont use a paper towel
too late on that one

dampen the microfiber if needed
dont dampen the screen
we arent stupid well maybe
use distilled water well i used rainwater
same thing

you can use the microfiber on the body of the phone
if you figure out what a microfiber is
or
use cotton swabs you know like you clean your ear out with
and stick it too far in the ear
dont stick it too far in your phone though

those qtips swabs worked well getting all that compost
out from the crevices and between the keys
my phone almost shined when i got through

i admit i couldnt figure out what a microfiber was so i
just used an alcohol swab on my phone

now its clean as can be and all those germs are gone
not that i ever really worried about them
heck ive been tempted to eat that compost it smells so good
sometimes

we do keep things too clean nowadays
heck i read where farm kids are healthier than city kids
since they get exposed to more allergens and germs

so my smartphone should grow up to be even smarter
if thats true and should last longer

the organicgreen doctor

just do it

JUST DO IT

its like the nike motto but it can apply to you
if you are a gardener

yesterday a friend took us to a large preserve west of where
i use to be in practice
its a place that has always been on my radar to go and hike
i especially like to hike the trails and look at all the fauna
the plants and animals

yesterday i noticed a lot of plants that i actually have in
my yard that is planted xeric
these are tough plants that survive on the hillsides and rocky
ground of this local preserve and do so well in my landscape

things like yes cedar
i have cedar ive planted in my yard
tough as nail plant that doesnt need watering and if
used correctly can be a good addition to your yard

evergreen sumac is a dark green leaf under story tree that produces
a white small flowering that gets overran with bees each
year
ive never watered mine in 12 years

mountain laurel produces this purple plumage that smells like
grape koolaid
this week another friend was looking at our yard and said what
smells so good
she was around on the other side of our house
it was the grape koolaid mountain laurel

there is a yellow flower called the three nerve daisy
it produces a yellow flower that seems so bright against the
dry rocky environment
i planted 2 plants in my yard a few years ago and they have
spread along the side walk and in my crushed granite rock ways
again ive never watered them

there were a lot of texas persimmons
a beautiful under story tree that produces a grape size persimmon that
the  birds love
the bark on the trunk is beautiful and reminds me of the bark on the
crepe myrtle
tough as nail tree that hasnt been watered at my house in five years
not even in our two year drought we had

there were several different native oaks on the hillside
each finding its own perfect niche
the live oak was planted by mother nature in the areas
where soil was deeper and seemed to have accumulated

a tough tree although its getting wiped out in some places
by oak wilt
none noticed here because of course there are no humans
invading the preserve to live and bring in diseases

mexican or texas buckeye is a tough multitrunked tree that is another
under story tree that produces beautiful spring flowers
i notice ours here is just now starting to bud out

the native grape vine thats found on these hillside is like the native
texas grape vine that i use to grow on my arbor to provide shade
and grapes for wildlife
i never water it at all
just keep it trimmed so it only stays on my large 50 ft arbor

of course theres the prickly cactus that was sparingly scattered along the
hillside that needs no care
interesting it was that it seemed to be discreetly planted by nature and did
not overwhelm the landscape like it can in some pastures around here

i of course have the spineless variety in my landscape and it needs
absolutely no care

there was discreetly planted native grasses wherever the
microclimate met its needs
no st augustine or bemuda here
just like in my xeric property

there were i noticed no what i called weeds in this landscape and
no invasive trees anywhere
its like nature planted everything just right and protected itself from
outsiders

of course it helped that man wasnt living there to screw things up

after doing a long hike we sat on a platform eating a nice lunch
and drinking a glass of wine
i sat looking out over the hills thinking
why o why cant we take care of our environment and
why o why cant we do our landscape like nature does so
we dont have to waste all those gallons and gallons of water
and put those tons and tons of fertilizers and junk on our yards

just do it like mother nature does
she does best

the ogranicgreen doctor

what no meals

WHAT NO MEALS

i have been delivering meals on wheels now for about
a year
i run a route although its not the one with the largest
number of people its the one thats the longest distance
about a 30 mile route

those people are always waiting for me when i arrive
i realize that  like my mother was when she would get
her meals delivered to her apartment that may be
the only meal they got that day
they like her since some have told me divide the meal
in half and eat part for lunch and part for supper
(or dinner according to where you live
in the south its called supper)

i wonder what they do on weekends and holidays
i dont really want to know

this route i run is about 30 miles north of austin in a
small town that you wouldnt think would have a lot
of poverty around
but let me tell you it does
i drove around and inside this town for years
we passed nearby every day commuting to work
little did i know that there were houses tucked away
that were like those you see on tv from poverty
areas in the deep south like my arkansas alabama or
of course mississippi

some of the houses i wish i could bring one of our
volunteer groups from the habitat and spend a
day cleaning the junk out of the yards and maybe
try cleaning some of the houses

none of the people i deliver to look undeserving of our
service

so it makes me sick yes more nauseated than the aricept
makes me sometimes when i read an article about the
cuts coming to meals on wheels because of our lazy ass
congressman taking the easy way out and just cutting
the s&$* out of everythings budget with no regard to
the people it affects

folks they are not doing their jobs

so far the local meals on wheels have not cut the number
of meals delivered
the small office i deliver out of deliver about 100+ meals a day
because of the cuts there is a waiting list for people needing
meals delivered
someone has to die or drop out or go to a nursing home for a
slot to open up
there never was a waiting list for these services until recently
it all doesnt seem right that this is happening

the office has had to lay off staff and rely on volunteers
luckily they still have their two cooks to cook
ive noticed a delay though in getting the meals to these elderly
folks since the volunteers arent as efficient as the regular workers
were

most of the recipients of these meals are at or near the federal
poverty levels and are one step away from a state supported
nursing home
for some the meals being delivered is whats keeping them from
going into one of these places
($2000 for the meals vs $40,000 a year for the facilities care)
you can do the math

so yes again
shame shame on congress and shame shame on us for letting this
happen

the organicgreen doctor

what does it save

WHAT DOES IT SAVE

just what does daylight savings time save anyway
the way i feel this morning when i got up makes me feel
that it didnt save me anything especially time

i know we did this at one time when we were in the energy
crisis in the 1970s
remember those long lines for gasoline
remember no one was traveling as much because sometimes
you had to search for a gas station when you did travel

i personally dont like the day light unsaving time change
i wish they would do like arizona and hawaii does and
the rest of the world does
they dont have it

the only problem is what is the correct time
now or the time it was last week

in the summer i like the non daylight savings time because im an
early bird and work outside a lot in the early morning
so if the sun comes up early then i can get work done before
it gets too hot
well i guess the sun doesnt really come up early
we are just being programmed to a time change not the sun

last summer when we were in nicaragua for a week
they are in the same time zone as we are but
the daylight would come on at about 530 am and my surfing
brotherinlaw would be up watching the waves to surf
i thought man this would be great to be home and to be able
to go outside at 530 in the summer to work in the yard

once when i was redoing my roof on my barn in the summer i
would set up a spot light on the roof and start working at
500 am
i dont have neighbors close by to bother so i am able to do that
without bothering them

then in nicaragua it got dark an hour earlier in the summer which
seemed to fit my bodys clock much better as
everyone seemed to go to bed earlier there

it was nice since i didnt have to embarrass myself and my wife she
by falling asleep in front of our hosts

so yes i propose that we undo do our daylight unsavings time so
that we dont have to deal with changing our clocks and being
confused for a few weeks until our bodies get adjusted to the
new time schedule

my old beat up black country n farm truck has been on its own time
now for several years since
i never change the clock on it
so right now its time is not correct or is it

yes lets undo it
it certainly didnt save any daylight for me yesterday

the organicgreen doctor

granny needs to facebook

GRANNY NEEDS TO FACEBOOK
after i read an article by alexis blue from the university of arizona
i felt good about my wife shes not getting dementia when she
gets older

if you are a facebook friend of my wife she you know that
she likes to like things and is a regular visitor to facebook

heck i hear her laughing at a video or telling me to read this
article all the time
sometimes its when ive dosed off in my chair while watching tv
at night
i dont get mad cause now i know its good for her


in a study done by graduate student janelle wohltmann elderly
people in the study who began using facebook showed a 25%
increase in cognitive functioning based on administered tests

could it be that mark zuckerberg who developed facebook
may have found a treatment for early cognitive decline in
people especially in the elderly

one of the things thats recommended for people to prevent?
or modify the development of dementia is to stay as cognitively
active as you can be

eg i have mild cognitive impairment amnestic type and may have
alzheimers disease
i write this blog 5 days a week
eg for today i read three articles to do this blog
went to the alzheimers association website to look up information and
reviewed notes on a presentation im doing in april
then i used that information to write this blog

i will post it on facebook twitter and email it out
i later will interact with people from the comment section from facebook
twitter and from email

each day i do this and it requires a lot of cognitive functioning and
cognitive exercise if you will to do this blog

all this activity may be helping to slow the progression of symptoms some

facebooking in the elderly (now thats not me)
may be helpful because of all the steps thats required to post something
read some about the post then interact with those who respond to the
post

its the use it or lose it theory of the decline in the elderly of their memory
facebooking seems to work better than those games that are marketed
to the elderly since facebooking requires more cognition to participate

those games may become boring and monotonous and not be as
beneficial

the average age in this study was 79
so watch out for those new grannys getting on facebook
maybe encourage yours to join up
and to stay mentally active

the organicgreen doctor