cover me up

COVER ME UP
usually around here we get a freeze about this time
sometimes though its been way into december
however
this year its coming early
probably if you are reading this blog in the us
then you are feeling the effects of that first
polar vortex they call it hitting all of us everywhere

it looks like it will be around here for 2 weeks
so
since we mainly heat our house with wood heat
i gathered all my wood in to my woodbox inside
and
loaded up my woodburning stove
we purchase a cord of wood each year
sometimes we need more and sometimes we have
some left over at the end of winter

so this morning i loaded up the wood stove after
running it at a low burn overnight
sturred the coals up real good
and this above is what i am looking at
as i write this blog

yesterday outside since i knew we would be getting
freezes i harvested all of my fall stuff that i could

most of these are pabloma peppers
for some reason they liked the weather this year
and went crazy growing
mixed it with this are
okra green tomatoes bell peppers jalepeno peppers
and banana peppers

fyi i will wash the bell the pablaoma and the jalepeno
peppers off well
put them in labeled ziplock bags
suck out all the air with a straw then seal them up

are you reading this my wife she
properly labeled and DATED

taking them out over the next year as i need
we just finished last years crop last month
i just take out the pepper i want
and
chop it up its so easy since its frozen

then out to the garden where we have a bed of
winter stuff
garlic arugulas kales asian greens broccoli brussel sprouts
the bed is 14 ft long and 4 feet wide

this stuff is cold hardy but a deep freeze can destroy them
so
i take floating row cover
i use the thick version in the winter
it allows light through
and
allows rain to go through
it povides about 8 degrees of frost protection
these plants will like this cozy environment and
seem to just grow faster

on a sunny cold day it feels warm in there
if it gets warm the row cover needs to be opened up

i start with the grey 10 ft electrical pvc
it seems to weather better
i cut off the ends at a sharp angle
then shove the ends down into the ground
some folks just use 18 inch rbar and slip the
pvc over it
i also run a pvc down the middle and tie it up
with zip ties
this seems to hold it all together better when the
heavy winds hit

i then slip the row cover i get at a local nursery
its 12 ft wide and longer than the bed

i them clamp the base of each pvc pipe with
these clamps i get at home depot for a dollar

so now i have a toasty environment for these plants to
grow

i also have this salad garden which has beets carrots
lettuces spinach peas swiss chard cabbage asian greens
cilantro in it

i made hoops like that above and covered it with row cover
fyi that spray bottle on the little windmill is bt spray i use on
my plants that have holes eaten in them
it kills the insects that do that

last weekend the cental texas gardener on klru the austin
pbs station had a section that lasts about 5 minutes
done by the guru organic gardener john dromgoole
on how they do this at the natural gardener
one of the top rated nurseries in the us

if you click here
then go to about the 21:55 minute
you will see an excellent video on how to do this
by the expert

bon appetit

the organicgreen doctor

purple day, wtea update, the keyhole garden guru

Walk to End Alzheimers
click here to donate or join 
the organicgreendoctor.com team

click here to find your local walk 

PURPLE DAY 
 
today is purple day 

its alzheimers awareness day
wear purple to work if possible 

ill be wearing purple all day today

my wife she will be wearing purple all day at school
as most of the teachers will be wearing purple 
also at her school

the clinics where i worked will have a purple day also

the downtown austin skyline will have several buildings
that will be lit up purple
raddison hotel downtown
monarch hi rise apartments
long center
if you are downtown tonight look up at the skyline

and think about those of us who are affected by this
terrible disease

WTEA UPDATE
heres the update for my team for the walk to end alzheimers
williamson county at georgetown next saturday september 29
at san gabriel park

we have reached 72.5% of our goal and hope with a week left
to reach 100%
help us if you can

reminder there is no charge for walking
you may walk without having to pay but a donation no matter
how small is appreciated

we have 24 members on our team registered and have had over
59 separate donors so far

join us next weekend

THE KEYHOLE GARDEN GURU
ive written several times about the keyhole garden

basically it is a central 1 ft composter in a 6 ft diameter
circular garden that is raised 3 ft
a keyhole segment is left open so that you can step in
and reach all of the garden
the bottoms and sides are covered with cardboard
and newspaper
soil or soil making ingredients are added
the central composter provides nutrition to the soil
as its watered it

the guru of this method is dr deb tolman
she will be a guest on the pbs show
klru central texas gardener tomorrow
if you are thinking about doing this type of garden
watch this show
as she is the expert on this type of garden

her website is www.debtolman.com

the klru website where you can see this show
online is here

the organicgreen doctor

what to do, tomater star

WHAT TO DO
this is a question i get a lot especially recently maybe because of
the holidays
these questions come in on email, texts, facebook, this blog and in
personal phone calls or conversations

what do i do if i think i have short term memory problems or if a
relative has short term memory problems

its simple get it checked out
sometimes these things are treatable
sometimes what you are worried about is just normal aging

what happened in my situation was different
i did not go in looking for an evaluation or complaining of a problem

i had a normal mental status evaluation for long term care and passed
then 1 year later while volunteering for a alzheimers research study as
a normal volunteer i underwent a neuropsychological evaluation that
showed i had short term memory problems greater than expected
for my age and my degree of education
thus the mess i am in now was discovered

if you think you have a problem whether some one else notices it or
not you should get evaluated
the goal is to look for treatable causes-anemia, depression, low thyroid,
b12 deficiency, stroke, sleep problems etc
you want these things and not the big A

go to your primary care provider or neurologist or psychiatrist
and talk to them
if you think theres a problem dont take dont worry about it for an
answer

you need a complete neurological history and physical examination
looking for abnormalities
evaluate any history of drug or alcohol abuse or head trauma or
family history of the big A

you need some type of mental status evaluation
-mmse (this one is not as thorough and is commonly used)
(it misses my deficits), its done in the doctors office
-moca test is more thorough in picking up a problem (it picks up my problem)
it is also done in the doctors office and
-a neuropsychological examination if there is still a question you should
have it done by a psychologist or neuropyschologist
the neuropsychological examination is the gold standard to use to evaluate
short term memory loss

you should be screened for depression
you should make sure there is no sleep disorders such as sleep apnea

here are the labs that are usually done
complete blood count, complete metabolic profile (electrolytes, glucose,
kidney functions, liver function tests), vitamin b12, syphilis screen, hiv test,
tsh (thyroid test for low thyroid function), urinalysis
these are looking for some of the treatable causes of memory loss

then if these are all normal you should have a mri of the brain to rule out
stroke, tumors, aneurysm, increased fluid, and shrinkage of the brain

if all these are normal and the mental status exam confirms a problem with
short term memory then it is possible that you are dealing with the big A

you and your doctor will need to look at all the information and make a
clinical decision on whether this is what you have-the big A

soon you will be able to get biomarkers done on blood, in the spinal fluid,
and beta amyloid pet scans to get a more definitive answer
i had some of those done

if it appears to be the big A
would recommend you start treatment as early as possible
it gives you time with your family that youll lose if you dont
it gives you time to prepare for the future
even though it wont cure you most people opt for treatment
i did

TOMATER STAR
my wifes shes tomato she has at her school will become a tv star
this weekend on klrus central texas gardener at 1200 noon and
at 400 pm
ive told the story of that tomater before
will leave it to the tv show to do the complete job

cant wait to plant one of these weird ones this spring in the garden
and see what grows

the organicgreen doctor