There are supposedly 150 types of arthritis. I've had arthritis all of my life, runs in my family. I have found that fortified milk causes me problems. It isn't the milk, it is the Vit. D that the dairy industry adds to the milk. I am also affected by the deadly nightshade family. For instance, tomatoes cause me an arthritic flare-up within fifteen minutes of eating them. My pain and stiffness reduced significantly when I quit consuming Vit. D fortified milk and the vegetables which contain solinase (deadly nightshade family). I have found oil of mediterranean oregano capsules to be very helpful. The capsules must be cut with olive oil, 50/50 oil of oregano and olive oil. Pure oil of oregano is caustic. The price for this product varies widely. I am not sure if I am allowed to mention a brand name, but there is one which is significantly less expensive. (If anybody wants the brand name, I can send it in a private Email.) Exercise is very important. For me, consistency is the key. I need to keep up a routine. If I get less exercise than usual, I will have pain and stiffness. As one person mentioned, I do agree that refined sugar can increase arthritic symptoms. For some people, spinach causes problems--it doesn't bother me. For other people citrus fruit causes a bad reaction. I have found that I need to eat organic fruits and vegetables. For me, the chemicals used on conventionally grown produce trigger arthritic reaction.

I no longer subscribe but I have the 2005 food review....I can e-mail it to you if you want... just send me an e-mail to laura at gleasonroad dot com Why We Like Whole Foods T The rationale for our annual dry dog food selection and review. here are basically two main camps in the dog food manufacturing business. The overwhelming majority of the industry belongs in one camp; not surprisingly, were fans of the other. LetÂs call the first group Camp A, as in "A vitamin is a vitamin is a vitamin." These are the people who think that it doesnÂt matter what ingredients a dog food contains, as long as the end result contains the recommended daily amounts of vitamins, minerals, and major nutrients (protein and fat) needed by dogs. The goal of nutritionists and feed formulators in Camp A is to manufacture a palatable product that contains at least as much total nutrition as required by law for the least amount of money. "Camp A Dog Food" has to be tasty enough to appeal to dogs palates (if dogs wonÂt eat it, it wonÂt sell); it has to meet the "nutrient profiles" established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO, an advisory body that crafts model legislation for states to enact); and it has to be as profitable for its maker as possible. HereÂs a fact that makes denizens of Camp A very happy: They can use practically anything as an ingredient in Camp A Dog Food  that is, anything that is "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) for dogs. So  duh!  they canÂt use poison, any substances known to cause injury to dogs, ingredients that contain harmful levels of pesticides, or feed that has been "contaminated with filth." But they can use all sorts of low-cost by-products of the human food or food animal feed manufacturing industry, such as chicken by-products (chicken heads, feet, and guts), brewers rice (small fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice), or corn gluten meal (the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the manufacture of corn starch or syrup). Each of these ingredients (and many other by-products) cost little when compared to their original forms (in this case, chicken, rice, and corn), and yet they still can be mixed with other ingredients to make up a "complete and balanced" dog food. How can that be? First, all dry dog foods are formulated with a vitamin/mineral "premix" that ensures the final product contains at least the minimum amounts of the vitamins and minerals deemed necessary (the AAFCO nutrient profiles) to maintain dogs in certain demographics ("maintenance" or "growth and reproduction"). ThatÂs because the cooking process (whether itÂs an extruded or baked food) pretty much destroys all the vitamins present in the food ingredients, and because (with a couple of exceptions) the ingredients lack the minerals dogs need. As far as the "macronutrients" (protein and fat) are concerned, there are any number of ways that a dog food maker can reach the target levels of these nutrients. The most profitable method is to mix large amounts of inexpensive proteins and fats with small amounts of high-quality, energy-dense proteins and fats. YouÂll note that we didnÂt mention carbohydrates. While itÂs hard for many people to believe, given that the vast majority of us have fed carb-loaded kibble to our dogs NUTRITION all our lives, dogs have no carbohydrate requirements. Studies have proven that a dog can get along just fine on a diet that contains zero carbs. Kibble is loaded with carbs because a) dogs can utilize them as a source of energy; b) carbs can facilitate absorption of other nutrients in the gut; c) when you are making a food that only needs to be about 18 percent protein and 8 percent fat, you need a lot of other stuff to flesh out the formula, and d) carbs are inexpensive (relative to fat and protein). Plus, as it turns out, if a food mixture that contains more than about 45 percent animal products goes through an extruder (the kibble-making machine), the machine literally gums up and grinds to a halt. B is for "better" Contrast all that with this: Ingredient quality, not cost, is of utmost importance to Camp B dog food makers. Camp B manufacturers aim to produce the The Whole Dog Journal WHAT YOU CAN DO . . . Look for foods that meet our selection criteria and are available in your area. Understand that they will cost more. Switch foods slowly, replacing your dogÂs old food with a new food, bit by bit, over the course of a week or more. Watch your dog carefully for signs that a food does or does not work well for him. Switch foods if you see signs of intolerance, such as infected ears, gas, itchy skin or paws, goopy eyes. NUTRITION Health improves when food does, too. Copyright © 2005, Belvoir Media Group, LLC THE WHOLE DOG JOURNAL : 7 highest-quality food they can, and they have set their prices accordingly. These are the people who pay top dollar for chicken from companies who will guarantee that no longdead birds get into the processing plant. Who buy premium low-ash lamb from New Zealand, and grass-fed beef from organic ranchers. Who develop long-term relationships with growers who produce the best crops consistently. These people are happy when consumers ask them for proof of the quality of their ingredients, or for tours of their plants. Also, nutritionists in this camp feel certain that foods are more than the sum of their vitamin, mineral, fat, and protein contents. Even though neither the FDA nor AAFCO has studied and proven it yet, Camp B Dog Food formulators believe there are beneficial substances in whole, high-quality foods that are not yet fully recognized or understood. These include enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, and even antibodies (found in colostrum and eggs). Phytochemicals (chemicals found in plants) are another huge class of substances that scientists are just now learning about. Many powerful antioxidants have been found in plants, such as lycopene (in tomatoes and cranberries), polyphenols (green tea), limonene (citrus), flavonoids (pycnog-enol, grapeseed, green tea, cayenne), and curcumin (tumeric). Other herbs, fruits, vegetables, and spices are yielding substances with anticancer properties, such as allylic sulfides (garlic), capsaicin (cayenne), and carotenoids (vitamin A precursors found in yellow, orange, and dark green fruits and veggies). Camp B nutritionists also intuit that there are beneficial interactions between whole foods  synergies we donÂt yet understand. Come over to our camp What proof do we have that Camp B Dog Food is any better than Camp AÂs? WeÂve seen the results ourselves, and so have our readers. Upgrade your dogÂs food, and, if youÂre paying close attention, youÂll notice many improvements. He stops licking his feet. His ear infections go away and donÂt return. His anal glands donÂt require squeezing. His eyes clear up and his coat gets thicker and shinier. His behavior might even improve. DoesnÂt all that seem worth a trip to Camp B? If so, check out the list of B-type foods on our "approved" foods list (next pages), or, using the same selection criteria we used to choose the foods on our list, evaluate your favorite dog food.  We look for foods that contain a lot of high-quality animal proteins. We like manufacturers to disclose the approximate percentage of meat, poultry, or fish in their food, but they rarely will, so we look for foods that appear to have lots of animal protein. Ingredients are listed in order or their weight, so ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients. Understand that whole meat (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) contains a lot of water weight. If a food list starts out with chicken, and there is no other animal protein listed until 7th or 8th on the list, the food does not actually contain a lot of animal protein. But if it starts out with chicken, and chicken (or another animal) "meal" (essentially dehydrated chicken) is number two or three on the list, chances are the product contains an admirable amount of animal protein. Animal proteins tend to be more digestible and palatable than plant proteins and offer a wider array of essential and nonessential amino acids.  We reject any food containing meat by-products or poultry by-products. ItÂs just about impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products used by a food manufacturer. WeÂve spoken to representatives who swore they used only the finest sources of by-products, but when asked, they all say that! The fact is, there is a much wider range of quality in the by-products available for pet food manufacturing than there is for whole meats. Whole meats are expensive, and because they are expensive, dog food makers insist on their quality to an extent that is unreasonable when buying bargain-basement by-products. So, because the quality cannot be confirmed, we advise that you just avoid foods that contain by-products. NOTE: Some of our past selections do contain meat and/or poultry by-products. To winnow down our list to the very best foods possible, we no longer select products that contain meat or poultry by-products.  We reject foods containing fat or protein not identified by species. "Animal fat" is a euphemism for a low-quality, low-priced mix of fats of uncertain origin. "Meat meal" could be anything. We shudder.  We look for the use of whole grains and vegetables. That said, some grains and vegetables have valuable constituents that accomplish specific tasks in a dog food formula. We donÂt think itÂs worth getting too excited about one vegetable fragment and one grain by-product on the ingredients panel. Our tolerance diminishes in direct proportion to the number of fragments and by-products contained in a food and the prominence on a label; the more there are, and/or the higher they appear on the ingredients list, the lower-quality the food.  We eliminate all foods with artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives listed on their ingredients panels. NOTE: Some ingredients  usually fats, and some fish products  arrive at the pet food factory containing artificial preservatives; these do not have to be disclosed on the ingredient list, since the maker did not add them.  We eliminate all foods with added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods. Like people, they can develop a taste for these nutritionally empty calories. To meet our approval, food need not offer the following. But we like it when they do.  We really appreciate it when the date-code or production code is easy to find, read, and interpret.  The more items listed on a product labelÂs "guaranteed analysis," the better.  We like to see the caloric content of the food listed on the label.  It makes things so much easier when all of the food makerÂs contact information (address, phone, Web address) is listed on its product labels.  We feel better when a food has passed an AAFCO feeding trial.  We appreciate organic ingredients. WDJÂs Dry Dog Food Selection Criteria 8:FEBRUARY 2005 Copyright © 2005, Belvoir Media Group, LLC Artemis Artemis Pet Foods Canoga Park, CA (800) 282-5876 artemispetfood.com Azmira Azmira Holistic Animal Care Tucson, AZ (800) 497-5665 azmira.com Back to Basics Beowulf Natural Foods Syracuse, NY (800) 219-2558 beowulfs.com Bench & Field Holistic Natural Canine Bench & Field Pet Foods Mishawaka, IN (800) 525-4802 benchandfield.com Blue Buffalo The Blue Buffalo Company Wilton, CT (800) 919-2833 bluebuff.com Burns Burns Pet Nutrition Chesterston, IN (877) 983-9651 bpn4u.com California Natural Natura Pet Products Santa Clara, CA (800) 532-7261 naturapet.com Canidae Canidae Corp. San Luis Obispo, CA (800) 398-1600 canidae.com Chicken Soup for the Pet LoverÂs Soul Diamond Pet Products (a division of Schell & Kampeter) Meta, MO (800) 442-0402 chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com Drs. Foster & Smith Drs. Foster & Smith Rhinelander, WI (800) 826-7206 drsfostersmith.com Eagle Pack Holistic Select Eagle Pet Products, Inc. Mishawaka, IN (800) 255-5959 eaglepack.com Flint River Flint River Ranch Riverside, CA (909) 682-5048 (sold through independent reps) Previous Selections on WDJÂs "Approved Dry Foods" list Foundations Petcurean Pet Nutrition Abbotsford, BC (866) 864-6112 petcurean.com Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Fromm Family Foods Mequon, WI (800) 325-6331 frommfamilyfoods.com Go! Natural Petcurean Pet Nutrition Abbotsford, BC (866) 864-6112 petcurean.com Hund-N-Flocken Solid Gold Health Products for Pets El Cajon, CA (800) 364-4863 solidgoldhealth.com Innova Natura Pet Products Santa Clara, CA (800) 532-7261 naturapet.com Karma Organic Natura Pet Products Santa Clara, CA (800) 532-7261 karmaorganic.com Lick Your Chops Healthy Pet Foods, Inc. West Chester, PA (800) 821-4640 healthypetfoodsinc.com Lifespan Petguard Green Cove Springs, FL (800) 877-petguard petguard.com Limited Diets Innovative Veterinary Diets Pittsburg, PA (800) 359-4483 (sold through veterinarians only) Merrick Pet Foods Merrick Pet Care Hereford, TX (800) 664-7387 merrickpetcare.com Mmillennia Solid Gold Health Products for Pets El Cajon, CA (800) 364-4863 solidgoldhealth.com Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dick Van PattenÂs Natural Balance Pacoima, CA (800) 829-4493 naturalbalanceinc.com Copyright © 2005, Belvoir Media Group, LLC THE WHOLE DOG JOURNAL : 9

Google, hmmm... "The wood is extremely hard, resistant to rot and long lasting, making it prized for fence posts and small watercraft. As a young man, Abraham Lincoln spent a lot of time splitting rails and fence posts from black locust logs. Flavonoids in the heartwood allow the wood to last over 100 years in soil.[2] In the Netherlands and some other parts of Europe, black locust is the most rot-resistant local tree, and projects have started to limit the use of tropical wood by promoting this tree and creating plantations. It is one of the heaviest and hardest woods in North America." source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_locust My yard used to be part of a farm. When we moved in 18 years ago, I figured the old, weatherbeaten fence posts up by the road would soon just fall down. No need to cut them down. Well, they look the same now as they did 18 years ago. OK, I'll take a ride to the sawmill - see if they have any 4/4".

The spots on the leaves are jus a water marks. If I may suggest something: in the long run, it would be better to keep jades separate from cacti and add perlite to the soil you are using. When potting up the plants, add little more potting mix so they are not sitting so much inside of the pot - it will improve air circulation around plants and also allow more light on your plants.