Audrey Wrobel

r ranson wrote:I love cooking with turmeric and when I started having trouble with inflammation (arthritis and Crohn's), even my doctor recommended I use turmeric for managing the inflammation.  (I should mention that the doctor knows I'm bad at taking pills but good at changing my diet, so the doctor always tries diet with me first).  

But the problem is, days after eating turmeric heavy foods, my arthritis is worse.  MUCH worse.  Isn't it supposed to help?  

Another option is to combine it with boswellia serrata. https://www.rheumatoidarthritis.org/home-remedies/

r ranson wrote:I love cooking with turmeric and when I started having trouble with inflammation (arthritis and Crohn's), even my doctor recommended I use turmeric for managing the inflammation.  (I should mention that the doctor knows I'm bad at taking pills but good at changing my diet, so the doctor always tries diet with me first).  

But the problem is, days after eating turmeric heavy foods, my arthritis is worse.  MUCH worse.  Isn't it supposed to help?  

Tumeric is only approved for short-term use for medical uses, and there are other herbs that could help. https://www.healthline.com/health/osteoarthritis/herbs-arthritis-pain

Are you cooking it with black pepper to help it work? https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-turmeric

Mike Haasl wrote: We could use your help!
...

We are trying to figure out examples of things you can do to pamper critters AND ways to prove they are pampered.  We're somewhat focused on 6 key species (cattle, chickens, pigs, turkeys, honeybees and fish) but examples for other species are greatly appreciated.

Some examples of ways to pamper animals include:  No manure, lush paddocks, variety of forage, dry stout shelters, really clean water, no predator worries, winter bug supply system (for fowl and fish), 2 acres of flowers (for bees), etc

...

What can we add to the list?

As far as honey bees, I noted organic goldrenrod growing in a garden we didn’t plant in this year. It’s a fall favorite of the bees, so I only harvested some of it. However, I saved some of it that went to seed, and intend to plant a lot of this coming spring.

The bees and butterflies appreciate my Echinacea and chamomile in the summer, too. I puff that food grade diatomaceous earth on just their stems and foliage, so because it can hurt bees I don’t dust the floral heads. I use it to control thrips and other non-beneficial bugs.

We are trying to figure out examples of things you can do to pamper critters AND ways to prove they are pampered.  We're somewhat focused on 6 key species (cattle, chickens, pigs, turkeys, honeybees and fish) but examples for other species are greatly appreciated.

Ducks deserve winter heated water that gets refreshed quite often. Consider putting their food dishes inside  their shed to protect it from other critters, and having fencing that deer cannot jump for their pen is a wonderful idea, too.

We rotate them to and from our former garden area both to encourage grazing grasses in their pen to regrow and also take advantage of their contributions to reconstituting that garden soil.

A baby pool is pretty easy to dump and clean in warmer weather. We keep three different things for them to drink from or swim in during the summer.

Finally, food grade diatomaceous earth is safe for them, and you can sprinkle it around and inside their shed, then cover it in straw to reduce the chance of them breathing it, and to help control bugs. You have to keep applying it outside there due to the rains, though it is a low cost and organic solution for hard-shelled bugs.

Steve Thorn wrote:

Ryan M Miller wrote:I've never tried this before, but I've seen one gardener on Youtube use Solanum carolinense (Carolina horsenettle) as a barrier to keep small critters out of his garden. I cannot find the video though .

Very cool!

I've been thinking about letting wild blackberries grow around my fruit trees to do a similar thing, they are just so tough to get rid of though once they get established.

You can grow chives, garlic, nasturtium, and some other things around fruit trees. Google “herbs to grow around fruit trees,” as many carry benefits that may be good for your particular fruit tree. You want those that have shallow roots, impart nutrients your tree needs, and/or protects your trees from from pests, so I vote for chives if it fits your needs best.

You need to divide chives as they grow bigger, like every two years or so. They tend to bush out as they grow larger, and they self seed by flowering mainly purple; are perennial.

William Bronson wrote: When I was a kid,  I read a book that described trapping deer,  with a figure 4 dead fall...
Clearly not an option now, but it still amazes me that people hunt for trophy's when there's steak to be had.

If we can use obvious physical barriers, we could go with strait up deer netting,  itd hella cheap.
But this is gorilla gardening, signs of human intervention brings scrutiny, thus the need for plants that protect themselves.
I wonder, could a ring of something totally noxious,  like tobacco, protect a shrub or tree, until it's big enough to survive on its own?
Or do deer eat tobacco as well as tomato and potato leaves?
They probably do,  the pikers.

On a different note,  a motion activated,  battery powered,  5 gallon sprinkler filled with pee or ammonia would be kinda hilarious, against deer or package thieves.

Could an screen topped bucket of ammonia or pee be enough to ward them away?
What if it where a closed container but included a wick irrigation arrangement?

I heard my stepsister say wolf pee is supposed to keep them at a distance, but yeah who’s volunteering to fetch it?

Anne Miller wrote:Amy, I like your idea about using sticks.  I might try that next year.

So all leaves in the garden are gone so the deer now like walking onions!

What they have not touched so far are honey suckle and turks cap.

Are you sure it’s not rabbits or another critter eating those onions? Just asking, because I have never had a deer touch any I grew.

Rosemary, chives, oregano, chamomile, marigolds, sage, thyme, feverfew, lovage, mints, cilantro, calendula, and many other herbs and herbal flowers I have grown the deer never touch here. They hate onions, hot peppers, don’t mess with my pink sedum, haven’t touched the goldenrod overhanging a garden fence, but they do eat the wild blackberries out in the woods part of our property.

There are other herbs the deer hate that I plan to grow next year, such as yarrow, garlic I will plant this week, for example. (I cannot find my binder right now where I wrote down my plans, though, or I would share more of things they are reported to leave alone as far as herbs.

It could be they don’t touch my marigolds because they are more interested in duck feed, as the fabric pot for those flowers is set beside the duck fence.

I am growing a lot of black eyed susans this year, as they are said to be poisonous to deer. I still kept them all in a small pvc hoop house I covered in mesh fabric for like the first couple months, but removed that now and they are still alive.

Before I let them all out, I set three plants out in the very back by the woods they frequent to test if they would eat them; the flowers had only just opened up  then. Well, they nibbled the leaves of two of them after a couple days, but the flowers were left in place.

I mostly grow herbs the deer leave alone, and am propagating them to eventually surround our yard in them to mainly make it less attractive to a clan (?) of deer near us, even my youngest child screams widely at and chases after them with large sticks.

We don’t appreciate the ticks and fleas they bring, they killed my apple trees and almost my dwarf pear (which has not recovered), plus they jump our duck fencing to get at their seed (which is really close to our house).

My middle child got bit by a tick last year, so I consider the deer a threat. However, it is cost preventing to fence our whole backyard, and that would be an eyesore they still can jump over.

We have a garden we didn’t plant this summer, and I saw goldenrod among weeds growing in there. Just took a few cuttings to make an oil with it, but letting them lay out in the sun for at least a day before I bring them inside and wash them before making it.

There’s supposed to be uses for the sweet mint that is overtaking our backyard, but none of those uses appeal to me. I am not okay with pouring borax all over my backyard, but laying tarps around to sit on them instead, so that I can plant wheatgrass in their place.

So long as I remove any flowers or seeds, plus also the roots, the other parts of most weeds can go in the compost pile as a green addition.