Comments on: Vitamin C and cholesterol

By: johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika

johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:44:50 +0000

R Maria Markle,excused my ignorance “red haven”never heard the term although I have peace experience.I just moved two mature peach trees in June they had set fruit and seem to have survived well.
My zone 4 to 5 microclimate has glacial till sand silt loam over clay bottom soils.We usually have a late frost in May around the full moon ,some times there isn’t a hard freeze until November! But normal first last dates are close to Albany.
Your area sounds interesting from a geological standpoint.The foothills of the Berkshires are too!
The growing season has been really rough here though rain dailly for 3 weeks no hay or straw being made at all,except round bales.I am busy fighting fungal diseases for my clients on all the fruit and rosatious species.And I have never seen so many slugs and snails,or mosquitos,I miss the bats that mostly all died of “white nose” fungal diseases over the winter.
Well the sun is out ,back to work. Enjoy the fourth.

By: Marika Markle

Marika Markle — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:14:04 +0000

Sorry I’m a little behind. Love the joke. Red havens are farmer shorthand for red haven peaches. (Another term that will always make me smile is cullivate. We live uptown next to an English teacher and she has a knee jerk reaction to correct it to cultivate… sounds too cultured for dirt.

I think we need a thread just to talk about geographies. The land shapes us so. There’s a zone running alongside of the lake that is zone 6 that is only about 1 mile…really old lake basin (after the glaciers melted, I think). Sandy soil on top, sedimentary shale & clay not far below. Then the terrain becomes gentle hills until it breaks into the foothills of the Appalachians. I’m told there’s only one patch of old growth forest, though when you get deeper into Chautauqua Counter it’s all trees on hills. (western Chautauqua county and into Cattaragus & Allegany counties.

By: johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika

johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:48:10 +0000

Excuse the typos and spelling ,please.

By: johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika

johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:42:14 +0000

I have a joke for you Marika,A doctor and a lawyer and a dairy farmer all won big in the lottery.They met while picking up thier checks and had a chance to talk before the press conference. The lawyer said” boy is this great I’m going to hire some partners and spend lots of time on the golf course”.The doctor said “me too I’m hiring out most of my practice ,opening an expensive lab to do my own testing,and hitting the links”.They looked at the dairy farmer who was’nt saying anything and asked ,well what are your plans for the money?”well said the farmer,I guess I’ll pay off the mortgage and the back bills,and keep on farming till the money is gone’.
Its cool that you have a contract with Welch,I have done some Orchard work too,and love growing food.I would love to see your farm sometime ,kinda far but would be a nice bike ride and I have a friend in Syracuse I could visit en-rought.
Wow lake Erie zone 6!Holy crap it’s zone 4/5 here in NW Connecticut that lake is a huge heat sink.Do you have a lot of lake effect snows?
I have a great book ” The Apples of New York” 1905 from the NY ag. ex.station By S.A. Beach.It has great colol plates of hundreds of varieties.There used to be way over a thousand varieties of apples in New York.I am not familiar wit Red Haven ,will have to look for it. Be Well.

By: Marika Markle

Marika Markle — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:21:31 +0000

We are dirt farmers. The farm is on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie in Western NY.. so we grow Concord and Niagara grapes for Welch foods. Also grow asparagus, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Hungarian & bell peppers (for U-pick) & we have a small orchard which sadly gets not enough attention. Red Havens, largely. Zone 6 with the lake acting as a heatsink… this is a great fruit growing region. I kept bees until this last December..we had a major windstorm.. bee stuff everywhere! Farming is a laugh a minute, isn’t it? But when you have mud in your blood, what can you do?

By: johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika

johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:18:45 +0000

Marika,good luck with yor congress critters,the Senators are probably afraid to lose thier lobby funds for the next dialing for dollars session.By the way what type of farmer are you ,I have worked dairies ,orchards ,crop farms and some veggies. peace

By: Marika Markle

Marika Markle — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:49:28 +0000

I’ve decided that I’m going to call both my U.S. Senator’s office & ask to rein in spending by 1) discussing costs going in, and 2) offering alternatives.

Does anyone twitter? Is this something that could be twittered? This is my busy season…farming

By: johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika

johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:43:47 +0000

Hi Marika,my sympathies about your dads passing.The sad part about it is if he had a single payer system he may have had access to home hospice counciling and made decisions based on his comfort level and not cost to the family.My dad died young at 43 of coronary artery disease.Being aware of the family condition has saved my life and I now have outlived him by almost 10 years.To get access to single payer healthcare(medicaid) I had to be destitute,and have to live near the poverty level.But with some new plumbing should live a few more years (I had a double bypass)to fight for various political cause like health care.I notice many hospitals now have ATMs near the ERs or in the lobby.Insurance companies are in bussiness to deny coverage and minimise costs not provide health care,they have to show a profit for the shareholders. Stay well! peace

By: Marika Markle

Marika Markle — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:20:44 +0000

Thank you, Johnny Hempseed. You bring up a good point re: the American Health care system. We the consumers have very little say in our our health care. With our current system, we have no options, and from what I am hearing about the debate in Washington, we will continue to have no options. Isn’t it incredible that when we go to a health care provider that fees and charges aren’t posted? Would you buy groceries from a supermarket that didn’t price their products? Do you buy your car from a dealer who won’t explain the costs? But when you walk into your dentist or physician, fees are not posted. If you need hospitalization, you are not informed of the costs of tests. Don’t you think that’s a little weird?

I knew a woodworker who cut his finger & thought it would be a good idea to get a couple of stitches…I think the ER visit was $1500, and he was advised to come back & get his bandage changed…another $800. This guy should have been advised to see his doctor for the bandage change, but he wasn’t. It’s like health care providers don’t think of the cost.

Just like end of life issues. My father in law passed this spring of cancer. Two months before he died, I knew he was coming to the end of a 12 year battle with cancer. Neither his family physician nor his oncologist would acknowledge that he would not get better. He was seen by a neurologist, a gastroenterologist, an urologist… they all milked the insurance company for as much as they could get. This was never the way he wanted to die. He was willing to face death with dignity, but here in the U.S., you don’t get respite until you’ve exceeded your allowable insurance coverage. Yes, I’m bitter.

By: johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika

johnny hempseed/Corporate States of Amerika — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:19:10 +0000

A late comment for R.M.M..On cholesterol Red Yeast Rice is a natural Statin containing nutrient.It lowers levels dramatically but dosages are hard to prescribe and like any attempt at self medication is an imprecise treatment.You can obtain home cholesterol kits now(with a lab fee)to keep track of results.Anyone using Niacin should use ‘flush free’ or time release to prevent flushing (Niaspan).Also(Roy)if using St.Johns Wort a person should know it works like other SSRI drugs but can make you photosensitive so use sunscreen.Smokers need an additional 100mg of it C for each ciggarette smoked,and 15-20 minutes of sunbathing will give you all the Vit.D synthisis the body needs(you don’t have to parbroil yourself).I have used herbal and nutricutical medicine wholistically for 25 years when I had no access to Alipathic medicine.One must remember that natural phtochemicals are still capable of side effects and interactions just like prescription drugs,so use care! be well