country n news-honey harvest story

COUNTRY N NEWS-HONEY HARVEST STORY


here is the end result of this story

what follows is how we got there

in early 2015 i saw that this bee lady was going to do
a talk about honeybees at my favorite garden nursery
so off i went
with notebook in hand

i took lots of notes that day and got a lot of handouts
i told my wife she when i got home
i am ready to to do this now

so
i went to this bee ladys classes
two of them
from early beginners to beginners classes
then
i went to the gurus class
les crowder the guru of topbar hives
since thats the one i settled on
since when i got older i didnt want to have to lift heavy
bee boxes

now we live 45 miles from the monthly bee meetings
so
as we took care of our beehive
i used books and you tube videos to guide me through
the first year
occasionally sourcing a beekeeper whenever i could

what i found out was
the bees really take care of themselves
you sort of leave them alone
just
occasionally take a peek at things to make sure nothing
bad is going on

i thought
you know bees have been taking care of themselves
without help for thousands of years
without mankinds intervention

so this week it was time to do our first honey harvest
of our topbar hive

so i took a peek through our drop down door on our hive
which reveals a plexiglass window
there were at least what looked like 7 or so honeycombs
looking laden with honey

so
i bundled up my wife she in her short suit
well she didnt tighten things up around the edges
like she should have
paid the price she did
once on the arm
which now takes up most of her upper arms with redness
and swelling
whatcha learn i said

but the one that got inside her bee hood
between the screen and her face
was the worse
i had to make a decision
let her get zapped on the cheek or nose or lips
or
sacrifice that particular guard bee

she the honeybee was going to die either way
if they sting you they die doing it
i sure my wife she appreciated by stream of thought on this

now
i hate to lose bees
so i contemplated for awhile
too long my wife she said in an unfriendly tone
so
that guard bee is no longer with us

my plan i thought
was to gently look at the last 3 combs
to make sure the combs were all capped with honey
to make sure there was plenty left for the bees
you know they worked so hard for this honey
its a relationship we have
i keep an eye on things
they pay me with some honey

so i suited up like looking like a spaceman
smoked them real good
this tends to calm them down

they think
i think
oh no someone is attacking us and stealing our honey
so they go into doing whatever they can to save their honey
sucking it up themselves
attacking the intruders like dive bombers
they only had one kill though
it was my wife shes upper arm
no repeating here what she said though

i gently lifted the first honeycomb
kerplumk it went into the bottom of the hive
a oozing glob of honey and bees

only one thing to do
just grab what you can and put it in the bucket

then i gently lifted another
kerplunk again

this isnt good i said

so after a long time in the heat of the day
oh wait that was my problem the heat of the day
thats why the kerplunking happened of the honeycombs
they were like
melting

generally
it was my plan
to gently lift the honeycomb
brush off the bees
trim the comb into the bucket
replace the guide bar back in the hive
put the cover back on the hive
a quart of honey would then be extracted

didnt happen that way though
we got
a large container of broken oozing honey
mixed in with lots of our bees
trying to save the honey
my wife she got a bee sting that looks like it will stay with her
for awhile

we about got heat stroke
we were both gassed when we mange to get all the bees
brushed off our suits
to get inside where it was cool

so
here is the harvest

we took this kiss method of extracting the honey
using quart jars and cheese cloth and duct tape
to let the honey ooze from the top jar
down to the lower one
like the sands of time

in summary
was it worth
my wife she said yes as she poured honey on her yogurt
and blueberries and mixed nuts this morning
except of course for that missile attack
and
the loss of bee lives

next time
since we are learning by the seat of our plants
we hope to be sting free
and
to have no loss of bee lives with our next harvest

dang
this honey tastes so good

the country n organic wildflower native plant honey
1 gallon of it

the organicgreen doctor

pat summitt was my buddy

PAT SUMMITT WAS MY BUDDY

thats what i use to tell people all the time
i read her books
especially the last one about her fight with her diagnosis

i use to always try to watch her games on tv whenever
the tennessee women played
i loved to watch her coach
lets just say she was intense

thats how she approached her diagnosis
when it came
early onset alzheimers disease
mild
well thats where it starts mild then it goes on to worse
thats what happens at the end
it gets worse
things just quit working
death occurs

now
pat summitt and i were diagnosed about the same time
she went to the mayo clinic for her workup
i went to the universtiy of texas southwestern branch in dallas
for my workup
we got labs genetic tests memory tests mri scans etc

she got the worse diagnosis
mild alzheimers disease
i got the milder diagnosis
mild cognitive impairment amnestic type the precursor to alzheimers

we were both placed on meds
she on aricept and namenda
i on aricept

she was further along
she had early onset since she was diagnosed at 59
it seems to go faster than late onset
which it did
real fast it seems

back 5 years ago when she was diagnosed and i was diagnosed
i would watch her coaching on the sidelines
she stared seemed to miss stuff
i thought sadly
thats where i might be in 5 years

actually i really thought thats where i would be today

lucky for me
i am actually better

sadly for her
she went down hill
hitting that downward alzheimers decline that when its reached
it can happen fast
sliding down into those last days before death
a merciful event

at the time of her diagnosis she said
you cant always control what happens
but you can control how you handle it

that was her approach
she handled it with class
establishing along the way
the pat summitt foundation which has done a lot to advance
alzheimers education and research
she left her mark she did

i used her as my inspiration
i adopted her motto
to face my diagnosis in the open
to freely talk about it
to freely talk about alzheimers
and
to do what i can to advance the cause

she did her job
i am trying to do my job

i have gotten a delayed reprieve
which i want to take advantage of
since
like pat summitt
i feel the clock ticking
this disease always wins in the end

hopefully we can stop this trend

thanks for all you did pat summitt
you will be missed
thanks for the inspiration
may you r i p


lets put a boot to alzheimers
www.txalz.org/walk

donate and or join my team organicgreendoctor
for the alzheimers texas williamson county walk on september 24th

to join the team you will need to register first
to only donate just hit the donate button

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-dont worship

DEAR MS B-DONT WORSHIP

ms b
i read this sad story
sorry about talking about a sad story
of an pretty 18 year old who just died from melanoma

now when i was a little guy
my generation called the baby boomers
were all sun worshipers

many of us used sunscreen stuff
go to any beach and any pool
there would be folks there with
baby oil with a tincture of iodine in it
to be used as a block of the sun
also to make you skin if you were white more golden
like you know
donald trump

of course this didnt block no sun
we all got burned and would get so dark
that some doubted what race we were
back when folks paid more attention to that sort of stuff

yes i got burned multiple times
as
we were outside from sunrise to sunset during the heat of the
summer
much of the time with shirts off

now in my medical practice i have had several folks
young ones with melanoma
some are still alive
some are not
all loved the sun

now a days it seems parents are more concerned about
providing sun protection
i know yours are

sun also ages the skin besides causing the other cancers
basil cell and squamous cell
slower easier treatable skin cancers

melanoma
its the bad one
it can go fast and spread anywhere
just ask jimmy carter
luckily for him he responded to a new drug that may
have cured his disease

now
since we are using so much sun protection
there are more and more kids and adults
who have low vitamin d levels
from the lack of sun
which is necessary to convert the vitamin d in the skin

there is it seems
a right amount of sunlight for the skin
too much does damage

so
ms b
use that sunscreen a strong one
keep yourself covered
but
somewhere in all this
you do need some sunlight on your skin

wish i had known all this growing up

now im pretty good about using hats long sleeves
sunscreen
usually

gma and i dont want no coppertone baby

the organicgreen doctor

brexit hits home

BREXIT HITS HOME
great britain is a long way from central texas
but
the world has changed since i was born
when i was in high school
when i was in college
when i was in medical school

for the best
i dont know
but
i think the world is about to find out this year


chronicle.com

the brexit happened last week
how could great britain hurt me here at the country n
who gives a heck what they do
let them secede
become isolationists

if i remember correctly the us tried this before
well several times
it never seems to work out

heck
we almost let hitler take over all of europe
including great britain
maybe russia before we got involved

the worlds not the same anymore
i can email or text folks anywhere in the world
and
hear back from them in a few minutes

i actually have readership of this blog from several different
countries
my blog is listed as favorites on blogs from europe australia
new zealand etc

so what even i say has a tiny influence on someone there

so a bigger influence like brexit
can have a major influence
maybe a big bad wolf one

on friday folks lost over 2 trillion dollars in the market
the total world market is 49 trillion dollars
as
brexit did its thing
xing the market real good

the worst that happened during the great recession that
started in 2008
was 1.9 trillion dollars
we all know how bad that recession hurts us

i looked at some of our mutual funds in our retirement plans
yesterday
on saturday we lost
$20,000 in just one mutual fund
not counting what we lost in the others
the only one that gained was a short term bond fund
interesting across the world folks went for gold and us government bonds

so we took a hit personally
lets say i am worth $500,000 then i lost 4% of my net worth on friday

so when we make political decisions
not thinking them through
they have repercussions for millions of folks
sometimes severe ones

i have no doubt if i was a great briton i would have voted
to stay in the eu or european union

it aint the 1950s or 1960s or 1970s or 1980s
the world
folks
has changed
it wont ever ever return to the world as we knew it

we are all tied together
internet cell phones financially etc

so as we all listen to the politicians this year
we cant go back to where we were
change has and is and will happen
you better get on for the ride or you will get left behind

dont let them set us back
to where we were
lets be progressive

think about brexit when you vote
think about what it is doing and will do to the world
we cant afford to get this wrong this year

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-a physicians personal connection

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A PHYSICIANS PERSONAL CONNECTION



a few weeks ago i gave this presentation below to a large group of folks
on alzheimers disease

i explained the theory of what causes alzheimers disease
i told my story of how i was diagnosed
i went through all the testing that someone should have if they have
memory loss
i went through all the testing that is done in the large study i am in
i reviewed the alzheimers graph
i reviewed the new treatment studies that show promise for treating
or if we are lucky curing alzheimers disease
many of you who read this blog qualify for these studies
i reviewed things folks could do to prevent or slow down the disease
i reviewed what i was doing that i think made my memory return to
normal
i reviewed sources to get information on clinical studies no matter
where you live

i also answered a ton of questions on alzheimers

one point i made was this
if someone could tell you that you have cancer would you like to know

if you then had cancer and was offered a new treatment for it that was
promising to work
would you do it

yes i think most of you would

however
if someone could tell you that you might have alzheimers
and if so
there was a new possible treatment for it
most sad to say would not jump for that chance

how do i know
because that time has arrived now
people arent or wont sign up for these clinical studies that offer
treatment promising treatment if the tests show they have alzheimers

i myself am begging bugging folks to get on these treatment studies
since i see how important the potential is for these new drugs

to find out more on all this watch this video
of my presentation

next week i will write on the
mend protocol
which is the regimen that i am following
either this regimen or the aricept (donepezil) has made my memory
return to normal


lets put a boot to alzheimers
www.txalz.org/walk

donate and or join my team organicgreendoctor
for the alzheimers texas williamson county walk on september 24th

to join the team you will need to register first
to only donate just hit the donate button

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-locusts

COUNTRY N NEWS-LOCUSTS

a few years ago it felt like we were having a swarm of locusts
here at the country n
like those described in the bible
like those you see on tv in africa

there were grasshoppers everywhere
if you walked by our barn which has metal siding on it
they would jump and hit the metal siding
making this twinging sound that seemed to follow
you as you walked down the back side of the barn
an eerie sound that really gave you a feeling of how
bad the infestation was of these varmints

if there was a plant on the property
they were eating it
leaves and sometimes the bark off the limbs

they ate all the figs and all the fig leaves off the fig tree
they ate the oranges the leaves and the bark off the orange bush
they ate all the tomatoes and its leaves
ate all the okra
ate all the peppers even the jalapenos
ate the leaves off the oaks
ate even paint on some folks houses
ate anything they could

now the chickens and guineas enjoyed the grasshoppers
they feasted on them all day long
giving us what i called grasshopper eggs

in the early morning while it was still cool i would walk
down to the garden
which was surrounded by the chicken run
shake all my tomatoes and run the grasshoppers slowed some
by the morning coolness
straight into the path of 15 waiting chickens
a morning frenzy and feast occurred
take that i said

this place that summer looked like when the terrible
hail storm and ? tornado came through our place
trees without leaves
a partially destroyed garden

so that summer
i declared a war on grasshoppers

now folks in town dont notice this infestation like we do
since we are surrounded 360 degrees by ranch land
prime real estate for these armies of grasshoppers

so here is my prime weapon against these invading armies
its called nolo bait
here is how it works
there is a fungus placed on some type of product that looks like
tiny wood shavings
when the grasshoopers eat this stuff
the fungus goes to their brains and kills them
then
those stupid grasshoppers eat those dead ones
then
the fungus in the dead ones infects the cannibalistic grasshoppers brains
these hoppers die
the cycle continues exponentially over time

now i treat by putting this stuff out using my seed spreader around
the perimeter of the one acre my house sits on
and
fairly heavy in my garden
i do this as soon as i see a lot of small grasshoppers
the time arrived this week
so i spread out this stuff
then
i will repeat an application in 1 month

this is an acceptable organic method of killing them

then
i start the every morning roundup of the hoppers in my garden
scaring them into the beaks of the awaiting chickens
man those chicks love grasshoppers

then
we let out our chickens and our grasshopper eating machine guineas
into the surrounding pastures

that plus anytime i can catch one in my hand
i feed it to the chickens
its like sharks going after fish bait on shark week
or
i just throw them against the metal wall of our barn
feels good when i do both

so each summer i do this and get fairly good control of the hoppers
much better than some of my neighbors who take a less organic
approach

ill do anything to save my tomatoes

now i get this nolo bait online
from amazon since i can get a bigger bag at a cheaper price

many local nurseries have it but its usually in a smaller bag

my war against grasshoppers
i think i am generally winning it each year

the organicgreen doctor

i am worried

I AM WORRIED
now i am not worried about my wife she and i
it looks like we will be able to live comfortable
the rest of our lives
doing all the things that we like to do

looking at my siblings it seems they will be in the
same boat

all have social security some type of retirement plan
some have more than one of those
plus some have saved money in their retirement plans

forbes.com

but when i look back one and two generations
there are problems on the horizon

first
social security
now i got in an argument the other day with someone
over social security
i usually dont talk about politics and money stuff around folks
unless im pushed
it wont be there was said
well i thought to myself and maybe said it to them
youd better dang be sure it is
or
you are in trouble as will be tons of americans
it gets scary when you see how much retired folks depend on
social security

dont let the politicians muck with this program
dont let them privatize it or use tax credits or use some other trapdoor
process
make them leave it alone except for tweeking it some to make it last
for our future generations
like
increase the upper income level on which the tax is paid
say $250,000
change the cola so its lower
tighten some of the rules
get rid of the complicated system thats used now
do i file and suspend or do i suspend then file
i suggest when you reach fra that full retirement age you get 100%
retire at 70 and you get 100%
retire at 62  and you get less
kiss is what they need to do
keep it simply simple

the pensions are in trouble
they are gradually going away
401ks are replacing them
that requires some incentive some initiative from folks to save
or
we gonna have a broke group of old folks without pensions or money

maybe make it mandatory
like social security
invest say 10% in a safe plan
dont let the wolves steal folks money
so
when people do retire they have a pot of money to draw from
like my wife she and i have managed to do
since we dont have pensions well i dont she does
but hers doesnt ever change
what she gets now
is what she will get in 20 years
no cola exits

now since she works for a school that doesnt pay social security
even though she paid into the system for years before becoming a teacher
she will get only about 30% of what she should get

when i die her widow benefit will be only about 50% instead of 100%

i am really worried about the pensions
how safe will they be to be there 20 years from now
i see them going away going broke every year
yes they are insured
but
folks dont get their full benefit from these failed plans

so
if you dont have grey hair
i suggest
stay on your politicians butts to take care of social security
to fix it

start saving in your retirement plans to the max allowed
like 401ks 403bs 457s etc
start low and add a percentage or two each year until you are
saving 15%

start downsizing you life now
now while you have money coming in
buy used stuff quit wasting money cook at home instead of eating out
etc etc etc

dont carry debt
do you have $500 dollars cash to use if an emergency happened

remember
if you make $120,000 a year for 20 or more years
you will draw around $30,000 a year from social security
if you dont have a pension wheres the rest coming from

if you want to live on $80,000 a year
then you need to have $1,250,000 in your retirement plan
to get that extra $50,000 a year

this it seems will be the situation that most folks will be
finding themselves in
those generations behind me

so
thats why i am worried

i dont see anythang being done to fix this situation

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-summer solstice

DEAR MS B-SUMMER SOLSTICE

now this is a picture of a proud grandfather
beginning the teaching of a youngster
how to be a gardener
now she helped me water the new plantings we put in her
parents square foot garden
im sure her watering them made them grow much better

i cant wait to have her dig her little hands into that soil
get her nails all dirty
i know that will make her a better person
and
make a more healthy kiddo

trust me on this one
is all i can say

now yesterday was summer solstice
june 20th
its the longest day of the year
its the day the real summer starts
around here in central texas its that transition from hot
to real dang hot
its the day for fertility renewal and harvest
its the day of the once in a lifetime strawberry moon
so named by the american indians
a full moon in june
we are in the strawberry harvest moon now

so this is a special week
this summer solstice and strawberry moon
no its not red
apparently its time to pick strawberries somewhere

i just stepped outside at 400 am
its still
its moist from the humidity
i hear whippoorwills in the distance
i hear lots of crickets and other insect noise makers
an occasional bull frog in our small watering ponds
a peacefull soulful solstice strawberry moon night out there
my moment of zen for the day

now ms b
you are lucky since you live in a city that has a big summer solstice
parade
its a funky type of fun parade that i am sure that you will really
enjoy with all the colors bells whistles music going on

hopefully you get to go so you can experience it
so you can start developing an appreciation for the
summer solstice celebrations
and
what they really mean

dont wash your dirty hands that day though
leave the nails with that dirt under them
youll feel much closer to the earth if you do this

lets put a boot to alzheimers
www.txalz.org/walk

donate and or join my team organicgreendoctor
for the alzheimers texas williamson county walk on september 24th

the organicgreen doctor

finally

FINALLY
i enjoy watching good basketball at all levels
from high school to college to the wnba to the nba

there are two nba basketball players that i would
travel just to watch them play
well ive had the honor of watching one of them play live

those two players are
steph curry
lebron james

lebron james ive watched live

now in this years nba final i watched every minute of all
7 games
ok so 6 of them i watched on dvr
at least i got to skip those dang commercials

in the 70 or so years of the nba finals
there has never been a team that was down
3-1 in the series
to come back and win it all
until
last night

folks i now believe in destiny
this was destined

now cleveland
much maligned as a city
and
much defeated in nba playoffs
has never ever won the finals

heck the city has a lot of professional teams
and
only rarely have them won any championships
not the cleveland indians well in 1920 and 1948 they did
not the cleveland browns that is the super bowl
the cleveland browns have been the joke of the nfl
like cleveland has been as a city
as the cleveland cavaliers have been as a nba team


espn-go.com

now lebron took them to the brink the finals
on his first go round there
losing
on his second stint there
loosing last year

cleveland the city of losing
losing jobs
losing population
losing respect
losing so much

this winning
means a lot to this city
just hope they didnt tear the city up last night
but man
i hope they celebrated all night long

if there was a superman
it would be lebron james
a triple double man in many games in the playoff
maybe even he was batman too

theres no doubt who the mvp of the nba finals was this year

for those in the dont knows
a triple double is getting at least 10 in three categories
like usually for lebron
points rebound assists

so i feel bad for the warriors
at least they won last year
if i had to chose between golden state and cleveland
to watch them play live
i would chose golden state warriors
steph is so silky smooth
a joy to watch

but
it was lebrons night
his final

i started the series wanting cleveland to win
i knew how much winning meant to the city
it meant a lot

i know they are getting the republican convention next month
but
i do worry what may happen inside that convention
and
worst
outside the convention with protesters
it could be worse than the democratic convention years ago

so cleveland
enjoy the day
stay cool
try to weather next month

maybe
this could be a turning point for the city

lebron
you be the man

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-time capsule

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-TIME CAPSULE

in the theory of alzheimers
its is thought that it is caused by the accumulation of
beta amyloid protein in the brain

something happens what we dont know
but the brains production of this stuff goes awry
its either overproduced or some control mechanisms breaks
or a beta amyloid protein is made that doesnt work right

whatever the cause
the brain accumulates this beta amyloid
it leads to brain cell destruction
plaque formation
the eventual accumulation of tau proteins destruction
which leads to tangles and inflammation and
total brain cell destruction

so the theory goes
stop this wrong beta amyloid production
you stop alzheimers
so the theory goes

now this theory is being tested across the world
including here in texas
using infusions of antibodies called immunoglobulins
that attack this bad beta amyloid
and
removes it from the brain

its the big hope
maybe the only hope thats out there
for slowing down or maybe curing this disease

its here now
the studies five year ones are ongoing now
we should know by 2020
if this works
it will be the treatment for thousands
who have the disease
or
who are destined to get the disease

you can go to clinicaltrials.gov to find the locations of the studies
near you

many of you who read this blog qualify for these promising studies
you or your family could be cured
or
at least have you disease slowed down enough that you or they
will die from something else

a cure
maybe
i sure hope so

now in switzerland
there are mice who are programmed to get alzheimers disease
they have the human gene for alzheimers embedded in their dna
they all get alzheimers
i always wonder what a alzheimers rat would be like
im sure they are easy prey for cats

just like in humans with alzheimers
they accumulate bad beta amyloid in the brain
get plaques etc etc
thus they all get the disease


researchers there have designed a capsule
thats embedded under the skin
it slowly releases antibodies against beta amyloid
the stuff is removed
the rats dont get alzheimers

just like the infusions do

seems like a good solution to me for our problem

im ready when they are
to get that time capsule inserted under my skin
lets speed this up
i and others dont have much time left


you can you know help with this
donate and or walk with us at one of our local
alzheimers texas walks
www.txalz.org/walk

here is the one my team is walking in

to
donate click on donate
to
join our team
in this fight to find a treatment or cure
click on register

100% of our donations stay in texas
for education and research

help us put a boot on alzheimers

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-spring has sprung

COUNTRY N NEWS-SPRING HAS SPRUNG

this is absolutely the greenest spring we have ever had at
the country n
i can verify it by the fact that i have had to mow and weedeat
multiply times already this year

now during the drought i had to do all that maybe once or twice
a year
i may wear out my john deere riding mower and my weedeater
this year

now our house sits in the middle of 10 acres
on 1 acre that is fenced with a high fence to keep out deer
and other varmints who would just love to eat our vegetation
that i have planted around here over the years

on this 1 acre where the house is
its what i consider the yard
i have planted
6 monterrey or mexican white oaks
1 flame sumac
1 arkansas hickory tree yes its growing good here in texas
2 texas plums

1 texas persimmon
1 texas orchid tree
2 burr oaks
1 huisache tree
1 satsuma orange tree
1 persimmon tree which just got blown down by a humongous
wind storm this week
1 kumquat fruit tree
2 fig trees
5 peach trees
3 eastern red bud trees
1 elbow bush
2 yaupon hollies
1 juniper yes i transplanted one on the north side
1 texas buckeye
1 vitex which my wife she mowed over once when it was first planted
trying to help me out once
luckily its finally after 5 years making a good comeback
2 red oaks
2 texas sages or purple sages

already on the 1 acre were
2 mesquites
2 peaches
3 plums
3 pecans
1 mountain laurels
1 evergreen sumac

if you will notice most of those things i planted are xeric and native
and are in the grow green booklet put out by the city of austin
see www.growgreen.org

now our front yard inside that 1 acre has a limestone fence about
a foot high thats curves in a semicircle
when we first moved in it was all st augustine grass with old old
hackberry trees

so
overtime i cut down all the hackberries since they were dying
so they wouldnt fall on our house
the first thing i did when we moved in was to plant two burr oaks
fifteen years ago
now the largest one is about 30 ft tall
then i covered all that st augustine with black plastic
covered that up with 2-3 inches of the austin wood recycling
hardwood mulch
then
i gradually landscaped it with xeric plants

so in this yard
are
2 burr oaks
1 small water trough used as a pond and animal water source
1 rosemary
1 salvia coccidea
4 salvia greggii
1 mexican mint marigold
1 lavender
1 italian parsley that is an annual but is replanted each year
1 sage
1 germander
1 mountain laurel
2 curly leaf yuccas
1 zexmenia
1 flame acanthus
1 butterfly vine running up an old gate
1 juniper
1 yaupon holly
1 large spineless cactus
1 oregano
1 cedar sage which seeds itself under the cactus
1 cat mint
3 large 7 ft tall native grasses that regrow each year
1 texas piquin pepper
1 abelia
1 shrimp plant
1 knockout rose
1 pidgeonberry
1 texas plum
1 texas orchid
1 texas persimmon
1 four nerve daisy thats seeded itself well
1 fig tree
3 crossvines that grow up the side of the house

a 50 ft arbor covered with trumpet vines native grapes
a native vine i dont know the name of virgina creeper and
star jasmine
a circular 8 ft keyhole garden using an old water trough

now all this is xeric and since they are all well established
i havent watered them for several years
i dont fertilize them either
i occasionally add mulch about every 3-5 years
recently i started using your leaves you give me as mulch

ie my water use for these plants is zero gallons

you should think about this when you
plan your yard
plant plants
get your water bill

now there is more on that 1 acre but i will spare you
the lengthy list but lets just say it reaches close to
a 100 plants that ive planted here over the last 15 years

plus add
our solar power
our rainwater system
our 600+ square foot garden
our large chicken coop
our pole barn
9 acres of cross fenced pastures

one thing we have noticed is that we have this remarkable

return of birds lizards a few garden snakes frogs

(to the  left of that birdhouse is a purple martin coming 
in for a landing like a jet plane)
turkey deer roadrunners quail bunnies some good snakes
to our property
making
all this worthwhile
plus
so much of these plants produce seasonal flowers
mixed with all the green and all the birds and animals
sort of makes this
a paradise in our eyes

wont some lucky person really like this place if when we
ever have to leave our
country n

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-superbug

DEAR MS B-SUPERBUG

it seems that my generation called the baby boomers
are not leaving things better for your generation
not yet named
oh i just googled it
yours is called generation z

now ms b
ive been waiting for this to happen for years
i knew the day was coming
when our world as we know it may go away

when i was in medical school and residency
we use to be able to treat a womens uti
with just amoxacillin
even those cases where they developed the more serious
infections
many could be treated with plan old ampicillin which
is the same as amoxacillin
the most common germ is called e coli

then by the time i was in private practice
it got to where you used higher and higher doses
of amoxacillin to do its job
then it didnt work anymore

this stuff was given like water to animals even if
they werent sick
it was put in their feed
kids with colds
adults with sinusitis and colds

then eventually you couldnt use it for a uti
or ear infection or pneumonia
since it didnt work anymore
it was overused
the bugs all got resistant to it

then we had to start using sulfa drugs commonly
called bactrim and septra to treat a uti
then yes
just like the others
they got to where more and more folks with a uti
would come back not cured when you treated them
with this sulfa based drug
yep
you guessed it the bugs won again

then we switched to cipro
worked great for awhile
then
you guessed it
the bugs started winning again
now many of the bugs that cause a uti
are now resistance to the cipro

so now we use
well we are starting to run out of new things to use
there is not anything new antibioticwise
that is safe to regularly use

so this last week
now i have been expecting this too finally happen
the real superbug showed up here in the united states
in a lady who had a uti
the e coli was resistant to all antibiotics we have
even gorillacillin

it first showed up in pigs in africa

so what can we do
maybe nothing
we may be all screwed now

now ms b
why am i telling you this
because
i dont want to sugarcoat life for you
this is the real world we live in

ms b
in your lifetime you will lose family members and friends
to a bacterial infection we use to be able to treat
but now we cant
because of the superbug

its my fault
the healthcare systems fault
societys fault
the animal food industrys fault
the governments fault
that this is happening

im sorry
on this one
i dont have an answer
there may not be one

the organicgreen doctor