Re: Michigan & Clotrimazole (was S.boulardii)

March 15, 2012

Yes Barbara, Michigan summers are often hot and muggy. The muggier it is, the

more mosquitoes we get. They used to spray for mosquitoes indiscriminately in

the neighborhoods when I was a child, but now they have frequent educational

articles in the newspapers about getting rid of standing water. In the summer,

this is a very green state, and people love to garden. But our growing season

is fairly short--mid-May to end of September, sometimes to end of October,

depending when frost comes. Spring and fall are beautiful and winter is

miserable unless you like to ice skate or ski. I was very happy to retire

(early--1991) and not have to get out of the house in bad weather, clean off my

car, deal with slippery roads, etc. Grand Rapids is about 2 1/2 hours west of

us. The farther north and west you go, the colder and snowier the winters and

the hotter summers, also. The closer you are to the Detroit River (about 40

minutes from us), or to any lake, the milder the weather. We do have a few

tornadoes and quite a few thunderstorms, and even the occasional flood in some

areas. But hardly any real natural disasters, for which I am very grateful.

Right now it is unseasonably warm. It reached 70 today, and I actually worked

outside about 45 minutes! First time this season.

Do you keep in touch with any of your cousins? I have cousins in Florida, New

York, several places in California, and a couple unaccounted for (my father came

from a large family and we lost track), as well as several cousins in this area.

Plus one sister with children and grandchildren, and then there's my husband's

family--quite large. We are kept quite busy with family! Luckily we usually

enjoy it ...

I had not heard that about Nystatin, but it is rough on the liver, and my liver

has had quite a bit of stress, so I avoid it. Yes, clotrimazole is in the same

family as flagyl (metronidazole) and tinadazole, but I'm not sure if it is as

strong at lyme-fighting as they are.

You know, I'm not sure if it matters whether you take hard or soft cuttings of

berry bushes. You could try both, I suppose. We have wild raspberries and

strawberries here, and I took a master gardener class when we first moved here.

So I paid special attention during the berry lecture, and asked a lot of

questions after the lecture was over. That was 20 years ago, and I never used

that knowledge. But I think I know where my notes are ... It's impossible for

us to harvest berries here, because there are so many animals! So we just leave

the raspberries wild in the woods, and pull them out of the flower beds. The

strrawberries just function as ground cover. If I could spend several hours a

day working outside, I could keep sprinkling stuff to repel the animals, maybe

put up some fences etc--it's just too much trouble! I do sprinkle cayenne

pepper around, and it works for a while, as well as keeping my plants healthy,

which is nice. We don't see raccoons often, but we have a lot of groundhogs

(aka woodchucks), skuirrels, birds, deer, chipmunks, etc. Occasionally we see a

fox, a coyote, even once a wild turkey! I like your idea of potting up root

cuttings--that should work well.

If I remember correctly from my class, raspberries require yearly root-pruning.

Because they send up sprouts so readily, I think you're supposed to cut out the

older plants and make sure the newer ones are far enough apart--kind of like

strawberries, but a lot more work. But if we didn't have so many animals around

here, I might be tempted to try it.

Ashland, OR is the furthest northwest I have been. And I have been the in the

spring, summer and fall, all very nice, since it is in a valley surrounded by

mountains which protect it partly from the weather. I understand the winters

there are quite mild, compared to Michigan. I also understand that lyme

patients in Oregon have to go to Washington State to get treatment--no place is

perfect! Yet my cousin loved living in Vancouver, which must be very close to

you and has wonderful gardening conditions. Of course, each little acre of

ground has its own special " microclimate " . I hope the gardening will be easier

at your new home.

Well, I suppose i should get some stuff done and then come back and read some

more emails ...

Khaya

>

> khaya,

>

> sorry, i thought the rogue river in or. actually, my mother was born and

> raised in mi. there were 11 kids and they all stayed there, so i have

> cousins i don't know there. they are all around the grand rapids area.

> when i was a child we would go back every so many yrs and visit, then i

> went when my kids were young, but i haven't been there for over 33 yrs. i

> remember in the summer it was hot and muggy. but mom's family all love it.

> and it is a beautiful state.

>

> a nd told me that candida is becoming resistant to nystatin. is the

> clotrimazole related to flagyl? sounds like it. i have not heard of it.

>

> i had not thought of taking cuttings from my blueberry bushes. i had from

> my hardy kiwi and need to do that soon. i think i will work on the

> blueberries, also, because it would be much cheaper. hard or soft cuttings

> better?? if soft, will have to wait awhile. we are always a bit behind as

> it stays cooler longer here. one of my plum trees is in full bloom but too

> cold for pollination so probably won't get much. the other blooms later so

> may produce. which ever produces, it then becomes a race as to who gets

> them, me or the raccoons. they look so cute, but are such a pest. one day

> my g.kids saw 4 little faces of young raccoons peeking over the fence

> trying to get to the bird feeder. the girls loved it.

>

> i have raspberries that have escaped the raised beds and gone wild, yet

> don't produce much here. what they do produce usually gets mold from the

> moisture. so as soon as they start poking their heads up i had planned on

> pulling up the root systems and pot pieces that will grow a plant. they

> will come up easily because our ground is all sand.

>

> i knew that mi gets tornadoes. one time one took my g.mother's neighbors

> garage, and left hers, while they were right next to each other. my sister

> in s.d. gets warning a lot.

>

> well, i'm envious of your 65. it is in the 30's today. our best weather

> on the coast is in july-early oct. in the fall the wind changes and comes

> off the land from the east and it is nice and warm and dry. very beautiful

> then.

>

> take care.

>

> barbara

>

March 15, 2012

is that vancouver island or vancouver wa. van. wa is just n. of portland, just inside of wa. very nice there. the island is in b.c. canada. nice there also.i don't keep in touch with any of my cousins in mi. there is one who migrated to az i email, and then there is one in id. that i have no contact with.

to properly protect a garden requires a 6'+ fence. that's about it. oh, make sure the gate is tight. also, an outside big dog helps. one that doesn't like deer.

a raspberry bush that is easier to care for are the ones that are called everbearing. they produce on the top half in the summer of last yrs growth if you didn't cut them down, and then on the bottom half in the fall. i think that is how it works. if you want a larger crop in the late summer/early fall, you cut them down every yr after they produce. that way you don't have to figure out which canes produced this yr and need to be cut, and new growth which will produce next yr. they have red and yellow in this kind. in the regular kind you can get black, purple, red, and yellow. very good, all of them. wish you could avoid the deer but they love them very much.

i need to dig out my books on propagation. i think you can do both, but each takes a little different technique and timing. so will do that so you don't need to bother, save yourself some time. thanks.

i need to go and post a ? about my d. coil machine. jim said to try 1518 for bart as i seem to be just spinning wheels on 832, even though i herx in the beginning of treating if i have missed some treatments. for freq. higher than 1000 you have to take the -20db off, which i did. but then when i turn the knob on the generator it will only turn to about the 8:30 spot to reach 1.3. i have double checked to make sure i have the right numbers for my capacitors and i do. also, the amp's fan speeds up within 1 min. where it usually takes about 4 min. and then i can only use for about 5 min before the coil heats up, so not sure if this is right.

also have a computer ? re: the disc to determine the capacitor switches. had it loaded on my old computer but lost the hard drive. i have 2 coils that john made me, each needing different capacitor switches and he helped me set it up on my old computer off the same disc, just changing the calibration numbers.

this is all so greek to me. i can't download that disc to my new laptop, can't remember how. did it on the other one--or did my daughter? if i can't remember who loaded it i guess i am in trouble here.

take carebarbara

Yes Barbara, Michigan summers are often hot and muggy. The muggier it is, the more mosquitoes we get. They used to spray for mosquitoes indiscriminately in the neighborhoods when I was a child, but now they have frequent educational articles in the newspapers about getting rid of standing water. In the summer, this is a very green state, and people love to garden. But our growing season is fairly short--mid-May to end of September, sometimes to end of October, depending when frost comes. Spring and fall are beautiful and winter is miserable unless you like to ice skate or ski. I was very happy to retire (early--1991) and not have to get out of the house in bad weather, clean off my car, deal with slippery roads, etc. Grand Rapids is about 2 1/2 hours west of us. The farther north and west you go, the colder and snowier the winters and the hotter summers, also. The closer you are to the Detroit River (about 40 minutes from us), or to any lake, the milder the weather. We do have a few tornadoes and quite a few thunderstorms, and even the occasional flood in some areas. But hardly any real natural disasters, for which I am very grateful. Right now it is unseasonably warm. It reached 70 today, and I actually worked outside about 45 minutes! First time this season.

Do you keep in touch with any of your cousins? I have cousins in Florida, New York, several places in California, and a couple unaccounted for (my father came from a large family and we lost track), as well as several cousins in this area. Plus one sister with children and grandchildren, and then there's my husband's family--quite large. We are kept quite busy with family! Luckily we usually enjoy it ...

I had not heard that about Nystatin, but it is rough on the liver, and my liver has had quite a bit of stress, so I avoid it. Yes, clotrimazole is in the same family as flagyl (metronidazole) and tinadazole, but I'm not sure if it is as strong at lyme-fighting as they are.

You know, I'm not sure if it matters whether you take hard or soft cuttings of berry bushes. You could try both, I suppose. We have wild raspberries and strawberries here, and I took a master gardener class when we first moved here. So I paid special attention during the berry lecture, and asked a lot of questions after the lecture was over. That was 20 years ago, and I never used that knowledge. But I think I know where my notes are ... It's impossible for us to harvest berries here, because there are so many animals! So we just leave the raspberries wild in the woods, and pull them out of the flower beds. The strrawberries just function as ground cover. If I could spend several hours a day working outside, I could keep sprinkling stuff to repel the animals, maybe put up some fences etc--it's just too much trouble! I do sprinkle cayenne pepper around, and it works for a while, as well as keeping my plants healthy, which is nice. We don't see raccoons often, but we have a lot of groundhogs (aka woodchucks), skuirrels, birds, deer, chipmunks, etc. Occasionally we see a fox, a coyote, even once a wild turkey! I like your idea of potting up root cuttings--that should work well.

If I remember correctly from my class, raspberries require yearly root-pruning. Because they send up sprouts so readily, I think you're supposed to cut out the older plants and make sure the newer ones are far enough apart--kind of like strawberries, but a lot more work. But if we didn't have so many animals around here, I might be tempted to try it.

Ashland, OR is the furthest northwest I have been. And I have been the in the spring, summer and fall, all very nice, since it is in a valley surrounded by mountains which protect it partly from the weather. I understand the winters there are quite mild, compared to Michigan. I also understand that lyme patients in Oregon have to go to Washington State to get treatment--no place is perfect! Yet my cousin loved living in Vancouver, which must be very close to you and has wonderful gardening conditions. Of course, each little acre of ground has its own special " microclimate " . I hope the gardening will be easier at your new home.

Well, I suppose i should get some stuff done and then come back and read some more emails ...