silversword, I checked out those links you provided. All provide erroneous information (in contradiction to accurate and reliable info provided by the Mayo Clinic). Two of your links go to supplement dealers' websites. Getting advice from them is like getting drug advice from a pharmaceutical company's site. Two articles are on general purpose sites, one written by an "ehow member", neither author apparently having any medical training. The other is an anonymous article on a cooking site. This illustrates the hazards of getting medical advice from the Internet. There are a slew of websites and articles promoting all kinds of products and treatments, by people with various levels of experience and training (or none at all) and with potential axes to grind that are not in accord with readers' best interesta. "Anyone who would take anyone's advice, including yours, without consulting someone who was qualified to give them personalized care would be foolhardy." I absolutely agree, and have said so on numerous occasions here (I have not given personal advice, but linked to a couple of reliable sites, one of which you also chose to reference). People are best off when they see the advice of a qualified physician or other practitioner that they trust, or go to websites that are known for providing reliable information. Here are numerous sources from a thread I started awhile back on good herbalism websites.

I have had great success with moving my plants into new soil, even if it is just a few feet from the garden, so it appears from what i have read that there is minute debris throughout the garden which harbors various tomato fungi. When some of the dead, diseased dry leaves become brittle in the fall, they fall into my sandy loam soil and become part of it. I haven't been able to get all the leaves and debris picked up, so plan to concentrate on rotation and planting in new locations, I think the tomato plants have been infected with both anthracnose and late blight over the 30 years I have been gardening, and I have run out of places to rotate the tomatoes.. Last 2 years, the only plants that were very productive were the ones next to, not in the garden plot. from Rutgers.edu extension fact sheet: Control Measures for Fungal Diseases in the Home Garden There are a number of cultural practices that can be used to help reduce tomato disease in the home garden. The first cultural practice is to remove old plant debris. Fungal spores can overwinter in infected plant debris and on weeds related to tomato, such as horse nettle, ground cherry, and night shade. During the next growing season overwintering fungal spores are splashed from infested tomato or weed debris in the soil on to newly planted tomatoes restarting the disease cycle.

Paulns, After watching your thread it occurred to me that your answer could be found at the very site you referred me to a short time ago. From the Journey To Forever website: "In addition to carefully recorded field observations, an extensive range of sample analyses (soil and products) was carried out by the consultant bio-chemist, Dr. R.F. Milton. These included analyses for available plant nutrients in every field every month for a period of over 10 years." Since there has been a study that specifically targets "soil tests" every month for over a 10 (ten) year period, one would think this would be proof enough of the validity concerning the outcome of using an organic gardening technique. Nonetheless, the study then goes on to state: "On the Organic Section, which received no fertilizers, the fluctuation was so marked that, for example, in the field with the highest humus content and the longest history of no chemicals, as much as 10 times more available phosphate has been recorded in the growing period of the year than in the dormant period. Potash and nitrogen followed the same general pattern. It was clear, from the fact of the closed cycle, that this seasonal release of minerals could only have been brought about by biological agencies, and it appears to be a natural action-pattern of a biologically active soil." This is the same exact finding you are experiencing with your garden. To claim it is a "fluke" or the result of an "unreliable soil test" is a bit silly to be kind. Since you were the one to point this site out, I was sure you had harvested this information for your own knowledge base. Might I suggest, when you get the time, to review the link below and go about the business of growing your garden with limited concern (when weather permits of course). In the mean time, I shall get back outside and finishing preparing my new mulching stock based on the new "Tiffy" technique she shared with the community Blutranes Here is a link that might be useful: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture -- The Living Soil

Thanks for a number of safe and inexpensive remedies. I haven't had much luck with anything I've tried with ants and grits didn't for me work either. I have used the Irish Spring soap for deer and it does seem to help. I put mine in used onion bags and hang on shepard hooks around the perimeter. I read that chives planted with roses will prevent black spot after two years. I planted several small divisions around mine to see if it works. I don't like to use pesticides since I grow many perennials and shrubs to attract hummers, butterflies and birds. Keski