Re: [gardeners] Wednesday

Allen and Judy Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 24 Sep 1998 07:56:54 -0500 

Hi George,
    Sorry to hear that you have been sick. Glad to hear that you are better. A
sinus infection can be a very hard thing to deal with since it affects the
sinuses, ears and throat all at the same time. My youngest son has chronic
sinusitis, usually develops an infection about once a month.
    George, I was getting jealous of all the rain you were getting while we
stayed so dry. It turns out that when we did get rain it was exactly what we
needed.
    Our green beans are fixing to bloom, as well as the yellow squash, green
onions are growing like a house fire, and the potatos are doing moderately
well. I planted 3 varieties of leaf lettuce. Only one of them is really doing
any good. I think that I got some bad seeds, for the other two. The Jalapeno
Grandes and the Big Bertha bell peppers are recovering from the drought and
starting to bloom heavily. I didn't try to plant large tomatos for the fall.We
still have gallons of tomato sauce and salsa that we canned from the large
tomatos this summer. The Sweet 100 cherry tomatos are starting to bloom again
and set fruit. They will go nicely with the lettuce, green onions, and raw
yellow squash for a great salad. I intend to plant my cole crops as soon as it
cools down a little. We had two days in a row where the heat index exceeded
100F.
    Well, once again we have to be on the look out for Tropical
Storm/Hurricanes. Georges is supposed to go to Fla. and then Miss. or Alabama.
But you never know how it is going to turn out until it is over.
    Hope that you continue to recover. It might look silly but you might want
to wear a dust mask to keep the mold spores out of your sinuses until
completely well. My sons ENT Dr., suggested that for him. Dr. said as long as
the sinuses were irritated they were like a fertile field for reinfection.
Watch out for the mosquitos as well. Many times they can infect you with
Dengue(sp?) Fever. It was known by the old timers a "Break Bone Fever". The old
timers called it that because along with a fever came bone pain so bad it felt
like broken bones. Most of the younger Drs. don't realize the symptoms are
similar to a bad case of the flu, and don't diagnose it.
    Allen
    Bastrop Co.,Tx
    Zone 8

George Shirley wrote:

> What a blooming week!! Started Sunday off with nausea, headache, and just
> feeling terrible. With the influx of mosquitoes carrying equine
> encephalitis the flu like symptoms scared Miz Anne and I both. Doctor, on
> Monday, said I had the worse case of infected sinuses he had ever seen, so
> bad I bled from the nose for 3 days. Antibiotics finally kicked in and
> today I can do something besides sleep and drink lots of liquids. Headache
> is finally gone and the nose isn't bleeding anymore but still have a little
> infection. Guess it was the drought and dust followed by tremendous rains
> and molds and mildews plus all the spraying in the neighborhood for
> mosquitoes.
>
> Garden isn't doing much due to, for a change, too much rain. Got another 3
> or 4 inches last night in about a 2-hour period. Rains like the dickens
> then the next day the hot sun is out again, cooks young plants quickly. On
> top of that the mosquito control folks are saying we are having the worse
> mosquito influx in 50 years. I can believe it because you can see clouds of
> them hovering over the fields and when they're visible to the naked eye
> like that there must be millions. Farmers are having to spray their stock
> to keep them alive. Most cattle were already weakened by the drought and
> now the mozzies are, literally, draining them dry. We stay in as much as
> possible and check the dog closely when she comes in from outside.
>
> Hope everyone else is having a better week and better luck gardening.
>
> George