The homemade solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)is not as effective as commercial solutions of potassium bicarbonate, such as Kaligreen. Among "natural" or organic sprays for blackspot, the two best are probably horticultural oil and micronized sulfur. Neither one is as good as the synthetic Bayer spray mentioned above by Buford, but they may be sufficient in your garden, the only way to tell is to try them. Buford is right about pruners and blackspot. When conditions are right, blackspot will come and cleaning your pruners won't help. There are two relatively new organic sprays for blackspot on the market, Serenade and Bayers Natria Disease Control, which contain a strain of bacillus subtilis, a bacteria which is supposed to control blackspot. I plan to try the Natria spray this season.

Arrktrees, just like all apples are Malus domestica, all bananas are the same Musa species. (Not including one edible species grown only in the South Pacific). Just like you can have Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Rome apples, you have small pink bananas, big white ones and plantains all from basically the same genome. In my parent's day, the variety was called Gros Michele, "Big Mike". The last load was imported into the U.S. in 1962, but the dying of bananas had been on-going and had inspired the song "Yes, we have no bananas". Since then, almost all dessert bananas are Cavendish. The reason is a disease that wiped out almost all Gros Michele. The reason for the quintessentially British name Cavendish is that when looking for a banana tree that was immune to the fungal disease, one was found in the greenhouses of Lord Cavendish. This single clone is that basis for the whole dessert banana trade. Now, there is a new threat, another fungus. The industry has already moved from countries like Honduras to Ecuador, the new #1 source of bananas to the US. The fungus has infected trees in South China, and recently was found in Queensland, Australia. When it comes to the New World, you will read it in the mainstream media. While you and I may think of bananas as an accessory to breakfast, places like Uganda and that region use bananas like we do potatoes, wheat and rice. This variety, a plantain type, is also killed by the new fungus. When it ravages East Africa, you can imagine what will happen when it hits there, imagine taking everything with rice, wheat or potato off your menu. Anyways, there is a process going on to try to find a resistant banana. Every banana is an ancient seedless (natural?) hybrid. However, have you ever noticed small brown specks at the blossom end of a banana? Those are vestigial seeds. For every about 100 thousand bananas, one will have seeds that can be made to grow. For every 1000 ones that grow, one will make it to maturity. For this reason, the Country of Honduras has a project where bananas are mashed through a sieve to recover those 'seeds'. They are sent to the U. of Louvain in Belgium where they do the growing. As they get plants, they multiply them and give them to people in India, Africa, South America etc. It is hoped on of these will show resistance to the new fungus. I'll stop this long post, there is so much more to say. For more info, look for info on Tropical Race Four.

It does sound like fun curing your own. If olives grow so well in your area, perhaps a post on Freecycle or Craigslist might bring you a bounty of chemical-free organic olives. IMO harvesting anything from a pesticided, herbicided, and whatever-cided golf course is asking for trouble. Who knows what those heavy chemicals do in your body after you eat them let alone what the harvested fruit's cells have taken up through their roots? It's the same reason why I don't pick blackberries on the side of the road. Further back in the briers the fruit is just as sweet and the chances of them being full of lead greatly reduced. I don't think bleach, sulfur, lye, or salt treatments would release the bad chemicals from the fruit's cells, though they would for those inherent to the fruit (which causes bitterness in olives). Chemicals, metals, and -cides have no taste when pulled into fruit cells. JMO Nancy

I just found this thread about tinnitus -- thought I'd tell me story, in case some pieces of it may help someone else. Mine started very suddenly and loudly in August 2000 while I was sitting in a room where there was a VERY LOUD collating machine working on our marketing mailing at work. The loud squealing sound in my ears did not quit that day, or the next day. I saw my internist, then an ENT. The hearing test indicated that I had not experienced any hearing loss, and I believe that to still be true. The only thing they had to offer was a special hearing aid to provide white noise. I didn't really like that option. The following week I went to see my husband's chiropractor, even though I was very skeptical and basically a non-believer in chiropractic. I was desperate, so I decided to try it. He said he would know within two weeks whether he could help me. Just hours after the first adjustment, I was experiencing a change -- it was as though someone were taking a radio volume dial and changing it louder, quieter, louder, quieter, etc. It was awful, but I chose to think of it as a positive in that he had effected a change. I was hoping that change could end up being something more desirable. I had daily appointments that first week, and each day the volume decreased. The following week I only saw him three times, and the appointment frequency continued to gradually decrease. I currently see my chiropractor about once every three or four weeks. Sometimes by that time, I am hearing the squealing (much quieter now than originally -- usually I can even just ignore it), but sometimes I go just to stay ahead of it. It turns out that I have a spondylosis, complete with lower back stiffness, and the adjustments help. It may be noteworthy that my father also had tinnitus -- perhaps he had the spondylosis too. If anyone thinks this might be an avenue worth checking, I strongly suggest finding a Gonstead chiropractor. (Gonstead = the gold standard of chiropractic -- and they are not likely to pressure you to sign up for the "lifetime program." Their motto is to find the problem, adjust it, and then leave it alone.) I do find that exercising (walking, climbing stairs or using the elliptical) is helpful. Hope this may be of some help to some of you. My question for all of you -- do any of you also have: - lower back stiffness? - bad knees ? (I need to have two knee replacements, but I'm still in the putting-it-off mode) - hips that are sometimes stiff or tight feeling? I'd like to find out whether there is a common pattern to this. Thanks.