three sisters

THREE SISTERS
this fall the school that i am helping some with their garden
want to plant the three sisters
so that the squash beans and corn
will be ready close to thanksgiving
using this garden as an educational event for the elementary kids

here is a link from the organic seed company renees garden
on how to plant the three sisters

they will probably choose runner beans corn and squash
now i did this once and used renees garden packet
which used small pumpkins

we got lots of pumpkins and beans and some corn
they will probably use zucchini and or yellow squash
tatume squash would be a good choice since it grows on vines
but the seeds have to be ordered from seed companies

so my advise would be go with what you can get locally
they are up against a time limit ie they have about a week
to get this planted so the stuff grows in time for thanksgiving

here is the school garden after a summer of rest in the sun
and with no water
we have had several weeks without no rain

remember this is all about gardening in central texas
so those of you who live in california utah new york
ohio florida arizona new mexico etc
the timing is all different
the principles are the same no matter where you live

so these beds had peppers and tomatoes in them
which sucked a lot of nutrition from the soil
it needs to be replaced

so we added 4 inches + of compost
since the original soil from my inspection was probably
sandy loam which is basically dead dirt plus sand plus
some compost
not the best soil but last spring a lot of compost was added
combined with this falls application of compost
will gradually over time improve the soils structure

gardeners there is an old saying
take a $5 plant and put it in a $50 hole
ie
its the soil where the money needs to be spent
its the lifeblood of gardening
that and compost

after the large quantity of compost is added
the recommended amount of an organic granular fertilizer was added
we used lady bug 8-2-4 but around this area medina growin green
and gardenvilles organic fertilizer are also a good choice

remember for this garden little kiddos are going to be digging
in this soil
and
eating the produce
so we want it all organically grown and safe

then i added cottonseed meal another organic fertilizer that
the plant can access quicker

then we added a soaking of molasses
which provides an energy source for the bacteria and fungi
which are necessary to provide the food to the plants

then we added liquid humates
which help breakdown the stuff in the soil so the bacteria
fungi and plants can use it

i add these humates at least once an year
and
the molasses compost organic fertilizer with each planting we do

i usually add greensand a source of iron and other minerals
but the compost already had it mixed in

in my garden i dont work this into the soil
since my soil is so rich
i just plant right into all his stuff ie the $50 hole
but
since their beginning soil is not as rich
i recommend they mix this real good with the top 2-3 inches
of the soil
and
doing this each time new crops are planted will gradually
put their soil to where it will be worth $50

now that the soil is enriched
it needs to be watered every couple of days down to about
6+inches
this soil was dried big time from our hot dry summer
although when i dug down deep into the soil there was
moisture there
this moisture will restart the life in the soil so that
by planting time next week
the new soils activity will be going strong

then next week
i would plant the three sisters similar to the diagrams
in the renees garden article above
it needs some modifying since the bed is only 3ft wide

once planted the seeds need to be watered at least once a day
maybe sometimes twice a day
so that they dont get dried out
dry them out and they wont sprout

in my garden i covered the bed with netting to shade the hot sun
eg the black lace netting from joanns fabric works well
and
is cheap

if the weather cools off this netting isnt necessary

now do a weather dance
so that we have a warm fall
if it rains dont water the garden
since the poor soil down deep in the bed turns into
wet gooey clay if it gets too much water
dont worry eventually the soil all the way down to the
bottom will be good stuff

then you have to be ready for those early freezes
which can wipe out all your efforts
luckily the garden is protected from the north
and
faces the warm south
wish my country n garden was situated like yours

you might consider putting up hoops like this with pvc
and
covering the gardens with thick row cover easily found
at many nurseries
or use sheets or blankets
ive done all three

if we have a late freeze this fall then none of this will
be necessary

then after all this is harvested
do what we did this week to get the soil refurbished
and
plant your fall winter garden
that will be the best garden of the year

good luck with your three sisters garden
remember
those native americans who planted this
that was their food source
lose it and they didnt have a grocery store to go to
getting it all right was important

bon appetite

walk to end alzheimers
september 26   williamson county in georgetown
team organicgreendoctor
donate and or join our team

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-would you

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WOULD YOU
would i
yes
if i could

here is an article  from the ny times
titled
the last day of her life
about a person who planned her death
early in her course of the disease
then carried forward with the plan
when the time came

read and weep and think
would i

in the movie still alice
alice planned her suicide
even had all the drugs ready to use
the problem was she couldnt follow the instructions
and
find the drugs she had sat aside for this event

my thoughts are
yes i would like to do this
but
only after i had extracted every bit of cognitive time
i can from this life
then
when there was no more to extract
then
it would be the time

would you

here are the walk to end alzheimers we are participating in
click the links to donate and or join our team
or
one in a walk to end alzheimers in your area


september 26   williamson county in georgetown
team organicgreendoctor

october 10   travis county in austin 
team austin regional clinic

october 17   little rock
team to be announced

october 31   hays county san marcos
team organicgreendoctor

november 7   bell county in temple
team organicgreendoctor
i will be the honorary chair for this event

future speaking engagement
senior expo belton texas
september 22 at 1030am
i will be speaking and answering questions on alzheimers

we need your help
we are close to a treatment and cure

the organicgreen doctor

i had a dream

I HAD A DREAM
for the last 5 years since i have been on aricept (donepezil)
for possible alzheimers disease
i have had dreams every night
usually none of these are bad dreams
almost fun dreams to have
waking up i feel good about them
i commonly will tell them to my wife she
she usually gets amused when i tell the story line

recently in my dreams there are a large group of folks
trying to get me and hurt me
zombies
bikers
crooks
deranged medical people
etc
my wife she says i start squirming around in bed
thrashing sometimes
heck i got to beat them off  someway

she says she never wakes me up
afraid i might think she was one of the attackers
i usually remember the dreams when i wake up
heck i even yell she says
whoo whoo i scream

i have awoken occasionally when i was in the attack
mode defending myself

i know its the aricept
i call them my aricept dreams

but last night was a different dream
maybe it was because of the blog i wrote yesterday
about dying

there was a young boy my guess from the dream he was
about 7 or 8 years old
he had a terminal brain cancer that was not responding to
treatment
he only had a short time to live

they even did a story on him on the evening news
i think it was lester holt from nbc that interviewed
the family
sad story it was

however in the story there was a new drug that had
only been used in animal studies like a chimpanzee
with the same brain tumor
it was cured with the new cancer drug

however it never had been used in humans before
no doctor would order the treatment with the new drug
maybe the childs only chance for survival

ordering the drug was not legal
so
they looked for a doctor to order it

so they contacted me
why me i asked
well for one you dont have your license anymore
so you dont have a license to lose
but you are still a medical doctor
once a doctor always a doctor guess that cant be taken away

then they said
you know you are like that little boy you know
you both have a terminal condition for which there is no cure

he an aggressive brain cancer
you you probably have alzheimers disease
both of you will probably die from your disease

so
both you and he dont really have much to lose do you

the worst that will happen to you is that you will be arrested
sent to jail forever
heck at least my long term care when its needed would
be covered

so i agreed
even got interviewed by lester holt on national tv
with the mother at my side
both of us and lester holt were crying during the interview

near the end of the dream
after the first treatments were given
the young child was responding to treatment
hope for a recovery and cure was there

then i woke up
crying

damn those aricept dreams

the organicgreen doctor