There are many plants or plant compounds with insulin-like activity, including bitter gourd, blueberry leaf, and anthocyanin pigments. And cinnamon. There are 3 recognized studies on cinnamon and diabetes; 2 found that it lowered fasting blood glucose (10-30%). 1 found no change. One important factor - none of the studies found that it lowered HbA1c, which is a marker of long-term damage from high blood glucose levels. So while it may be of some use, cinnamon alone does not appear to be enough. If combined with a low glycemic diet and exercise (and careful monitoring), cinnamon may make sense - more so for people with relatively mild/recent onset diabetes. As far as GERD/acid reflux goes, herbalists consider cinnamon to be a decent treatment for the condition (I am not aware of any controlled studies on it). While individual responses vary, spicy foods are not usually the cause. Anyone can become more aware of their stomach if they suddenly start consuming more spices than they are used to, but the stomach generally adjusts to the spice load quickly, and may actually improve within days of upping the spice. Another note - there are a variety of related species of trees that have a sweet bark that is marketed as cinnamon - common cinnamon, cassia cinnamon, Burmese cinnamon, and Saigon cinnamon. The diabetes studies mentioned in the article below all used cassia cinnamon. Here is a link that might be useful: a systematic review of the safety and efficacy of common and cassia cinnamon bark.

Why don't you just purchase a complete organic granular fertilizer & follow the application directions on the package? Because it's balanced you wouldn't get too much nitrogen which makes for large tomato plants, but few fruits. Beans don't need much nitrogen either, but actually can improve your soil for the tomatoes next year if you alternate the rows. Too much of any one thing with individual soil amendments could cause a problem for your garden and you might not have time to correct & replant before your summer crops planting window is over. Like joel_bc amending the row or planting holes for tomatoes, but not the entire garden is reasonable & cost effective. I've lasagna gardened for our new mixed perennial beds, but not in the vegetable beds. It's amazing how much it composts down from where you mounded it all up. I have used a lot of sheet mulch of various ingredients over the years with great conditioning. I've used alfalfa pellets as a topdressing around flowering shrubs & heavy feeding perennials, but not in the vegetable garden. I also have put them in a watering can to dissolve in the sun warmed water in summer, but it really smelled after a few days. Plus where I piled it up & didn't mix into the soil around the hostas it attracted a stray dog that broke all sorts of plant stems getting into the flower garden. I used the diluted liquid for recent transplants to get them off to a good start when planted in our summer dry season & was only a light green not a dark green color. I would be careful about mixing it into the root zone soil of young plants, but should be safe as a diluted tea mixture. Since I prefer to use soaker hoses for summer watering of vegetable beds, mixing a complete fertilizer into the soil prior to seeding or transplanting is less labor than side dressing or watering with anything additional than tap water. Find out what the organic gardeners in your area add to soils. You don't always have time or money for a good soil test, but they can give you a good idea of the condition of local soils whether usually acidic or alkaline. For example in my area with 60+ inches of rain 9 months of the year we have acidic soils that need yearly fall lime + nutrients even in manure enriched soils. It simply washes out, so I follow the recommended application rate in the spring and use organic mulches as well. Nothing seems overgrown or out of the ordinary, but grows more quickly now than in years when I only used poultry & rabbit manures from our backyard animals. It's worth the extra $ to buy the complete organic fertilizer for me. The brands in my area are Dr. Earth or Whitney Farms and the application rate is different for each, so I just read and follow the directions each time I use it. Hope that helps~ Corrine

Hi Seaweed: So glad to hear from an experienced rose-grower with 160+ roses like you. Thank you for reminding to be gentle & diluted with new-band ... tiny roots are sensitive to fertilizer damage. The bone meal I used for that Gallica-rose-band was Encap brand, with NPK 6-9-0. I checked their website, and the instruction was, "For Potted Plants: Apply 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp. per pot." I used more than that .. thus the phosphorus burn. The advantage of organics like horse manure NPK 0.44 - 0.17 - 0.35 , and corn meal NPK of 1.6 - 0.65 - 0.4 are: they are balanced, plus low-dose, won't burn plants. Some info. from the below link: "phosphorus is as fertilizer, but it is also used in weapons, the herbicide glyphosate (aka Round Up), baking powder and detergent among other things. A review of scientific literature reveals that most, as in 75 - 95%, of the phosphorus fertilizer applied to crops is not taken up by the plants. It will mostly stay in the soil. However, significant amounts are washed or eroded away into adjacent streams where they wreck havoc with aquatic systems causing large algae blooms killing lakes. Phosphorus Fertilizer Bans - In an effort to reduce the damage caused by phosphate runoff and resulting algae blooms in lakes, a number of local, state and provincial governments have banned phosphorus fertilizer for lawns. A series of random soil tests in WI showed phosphorus levels were always adequate for lawns with a average P level two and half times that needed for healthy lawns. Restrictions exist in Manitoba, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Florida. Phosphorus is an extremely reactive element ... The phosphorus ions used in fertilizers are negatively charged. The first thing phosphorus does when it hits the soil is draw positively charged ions to it. These turn into new insoluble compounds, and these compounds do not move in the soil. They sit there, insoluble and out of reach of plant roots. Plants may be surrounded by reserves of phosphorus, but these reserves are either inaccessible or insoluble so not suitable for plants to uptake." http://www.the-compost-gardener.com/phosphorus-fertilizer.html More info. on phosphorus: "High Available Phosphate Reduces Root Colonization - Interestingly, research has also shown that, when soils contain high levels of available phosphate, the degree of root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi diminishes. This effect only applies to available phosphates. Insoluble phosphates are unavailable, and do not affect mycorrhizal development. " Paul of Fine Gardening Magazine said it well, see link below: "Professor Chalker-Scott goes on to say this: “I believe this is what has happened in many landscapes that feature roses. Well-intentioned, yet misguided, homeowners over apply phosphate and other fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides until the soil system is so impacted that it becomes non-functional. Without the beneficial soil organisms, roses become more susceptible to nutrient deficiencies and opportunistic diseases, causing rose aficionados to add even more of these chemicals.” One more reason to just treat roses like any other plant. After all Roses Are Plants, Too. Happy Roseing - Paul. Here is a link that might be useful: Roses and the myth of 1 cup of bone meal

You can order the Evangers canned pheasant and the seafood through PetFoodDirect.com. I order when they send me 15% to 22% coupons and the discounts more than cover the freight costs. (Very reasonable freight and they ship FAST.) When you get to the site click on the 'enter now' at the top and you can immediately get a coupon code emailed to you.