Al......of course I do not recognize and would have no reason to care to much about earned titles. I have seen and been with the best and the worse Master Gardeners. If you name a hundred of any like title I would be able to say the same thing about them. I am a ROADS SCHOLLAR. I love to talk one or two on one standing knee deep in poison ivy. Going down the roads I still play "How To Tapes" on the way many times to meet someone else who will either teach me something or learn something for the time envested. We have been "HOW TO" teachers owning a school to teach true Antique Doll Restoration. We have done the whole national media trip. I personally still like it best knee deep in poison ivy to make a point. Now my wheels of life are starting down the last road. I may be able to enjoy the helping part of this site for some years. My hands no longer fit the hoe handle. I was one of the first in the country to begin using aerobic compost tea from proven tested base materials. For at least ten years now I have a standing offer to anyone and specifically the County Agents office and the Master Gardeners. It goes like this. The learning is relatively simple. I will give you hands on training in my back yard one on one or class you set up for your friends free. It will take one evening and one three hour following evening attendance with camera and note books. Coffee will be provided. To date no County Office interest, no Master Gardener Interest, no local garden club interest. Now is not that a pretty good status of the day report? On the subject of the Worst Master Gardeners meaning ones who may not have been in the "A Row" in class. My opinion is that just presenting a slide show with very simple subject matter looks good to entry level gardeners. The Master Gardeners courses that I have attended were not open to discussion or question. All materials originated at Penn State University. It was in one of those courses I learned that Comfrey was a horrible weed and should not be used. My Comfrey is grown in a K-Mart huge plastic containment planter. Makes enough for a whole year of Comfrey Tea on my property. I would offer that knowledge as a bonus to anyone interested in what has been happening here for over thirty five years. We are 98% organic here. We lie about the other 2% Our patch is now down to patio pots. They are in keeping with my opening statement in this paragraph.

I have been fighting scale which invaded my greenhouse for about 3-1/2 months now. Tried many things, including the Bayer Advanced systemic spray. I think I may have lost one or two plants, but am on the way to recovery. It is my opinion that since this is a systemic product, and the OP has completely repotted all plants, repotting should not be necessary. I would advise removing the visible offenders with alcohol swabs in conjunction with at least a 3-week systemic spray treatment on all leaf surfaces. Regarding the pictures, these leaves are very stressed. I have had some success with wrapping phal leaves with wet paper towels, re-wetting by misting the towels heavily a few times a day. It may not work, but is worth a try. Since you have critters, be sure to destroy the paper towels afterwards. Ann

Hi Jim: That's a great idea .. putting a Christmas tree in the front porch. I thought about it, but held back ... our weather is so rainy & icy in zone 5a. My brother is a dermatologist & skilled surgeon. Acne treatment shifted from chemicals to expensive laser or light treatment. The acne drug, Acutane, has been linked to birth defects, and suicides in teenagers. There's Nicomide-T, a derivative from Vitamin B, for an expensive acne treatment. Brewer's yeast is cheaper to treat acne, since it's has all the B-vitamins. I did extensive research on Brewer's yeast since I plan to give that to my kid for her teenager acne. University of Maryland Medical center has a good review on Brewer's Yeast, known to help with diabetes, high cholesterol, plus preventing colds & flu. Here's an excerpt from below link: "At least one study has found that brewer's yeast may improve acne. Another linked it to a reduced risk of a second skin cancer. And one large, preliminary study found that taking a specific kind brewer’s yeast product (EpiCor) may help prevent colds and flu. Brewer's yeast is often used as a source of B-complex vitamins, chromium, and selenium. The B-complex vitamins in brewer's yeast include B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folic acid), and H or B7 (biotin). These vitamins help break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, which provide the body with energy. They also support the nervous system, help maintain the muscles used for digestion, and keep skin, hair, eyes, mouth, and liver healthy. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/brewers-yeast#ixzz3MBHc8Nct I have been taking Brewer's Yeast for months. It was a God-sent when I was bed-ridden from my severe allergic reaction to Cantaloupe. I was so inflamed, but the brewer's yeast quenched the inflammation. Brewer's yeast is a by-product of the beer industry, sold cheap $10 for 1 lb. as NOW brewer's yeast. But one company convert that to pills, and sold under EpiCor for outrageous price of $42 a tiny bottle on Amazon, with many glowing reviews. Lots of perfect reviews on Amazon are corporate sponsored. NOW brewer's yeast has the LOWEST rating on Amazon, since it's cheap ... they don't pay people to boost their Amazon ratings. However, NOW brewer's yeast works as well as EpiCor. It tastes good if mixed with buckwheat honey and milk. It's a meal in itself, I don't get hungry until 4 or 5 hours later. The blood-sugar stabilization is fantastic. One drawback: can't take that before bedtime, since it makes me very hyperactive like caffeine. The last time I had a cold/flu ? That's when my kid was 4 years old. Nutritional Yeast tastes nasty like brewer's yeast, plus without the chromium. I already tried nutritional yeast, it was like stinky powder-egg. The below link shows the difference between the two: http://www.milkandhoneyhealthfoods.com/brewers-yeast-versus-nutritional-yeast Brewer's yeast helps me to lose weight, since it stabilizes my blood sugar. Here's an excerpt from below link: "A recent study has found that a hydrolysate from brewer’s yeast may help obese people lose weight and abdominal fat. Participants in the study included 54 obese men and women. Over the course of ten weeks they consumed either 0.5 grams of yeast hydrolysate or dextrin as a control 30 minutes before breakfast and again 30 minutes before dinner. At the six week point, the researchers noted that the yeast hydrolysate group already had significant reductions in calorie intake. This reduction was maintained through the end of the study. At the conclusion of the study, the researchers noted an average 5.7 lbs reduction in body weight and a 17.3 cm2 reduction in abdominal circumference in the yeast group, compared to 1.8 lbs and 7 cm2 reductions in the control group. Researchers from Jeonju University in South Korea conducted the study. It was published in the January 2014 issue of Nutrition." Below is my Christmas tree. It was decorated by my kid and her friend. I have NOT added the other decorations. Here is a link that might be useful: Brewer's yeast extract to lose weight

Well, I'll chime in, I guess. I'm Jennifer in Va...as my name states. I've resorted to lurking for a bit. There's a lot going on that keeps me busy. I'm 7 months pregnant now, and still busy schooling my 2 kids! I only get in my sewing room about once a week, rather than the once a day it used to be....just too tired to do more! Mostly I've been piddling. Collecting batik charms for a class at our guild's quilt-in in March, collecting red-white-green fqs for the Mystery quilt. I did make up a purse out of yellow/blue charms for donation to the raffles. My most active project is probably my English Paper Piecing one out of 30s prints that will be a baby quilt (Thanks Teresa!) I have the bulk of the blocks done and will start putting those together soon... byrdseay~Maybe we'll run into each other next weekend at Mid-Atlantic! I'll be there Friday & Saturday, trying to get into classes both days. (Guess I'll have to get organized for that as well!) Oh, and yesterday DH said I could get an embroidery machine for my 40th b-day tomorrow!! Now I just need to figure out if we can afford one!!..and which one! Oy vay