I really like the pictures of the entire bush too. In fact, I like it MORE than just a picture of a single rose. I also like bouquet pictures more. And I love entire garden pictures that shows how people plant their roses next to other roses, as well as their companion plants. The single rose picture is actually my least favorite.... not that I do not enjoy them, they just down at the bottom of the list.

Carol: An excerpt from below link, which states that sugar is bad for plants, but "Club soda - mineral water with carbon dioxide bubbles. Seedlings don’t have enough leaves yet for photosynthesis. With club soda, the seedlings will be able to absorb gas quickly and help with photosynthesis."

Does sugar help plants grow?

Another plant study stated: "Although sugar has been suggested to promote floral transition in many plant species, growth on high concentrations (5% [w/v]) of sucrose (Suc) significantly delayed flowering time, causing an increase in the number of leaves at the time of flowering in Arabidopsis. In addition, growth on low concentrations (1% [w/v]) of Suc slightly inhibited flowering in wild-type plants."

I can see why a nursery recommends pouring a can of coke to acidify soil, IF THERE IS ORGANIC MATTER in the soil to ferment. My Mom made wine from the pears she had in her garden, and she used lots of sugar to help the yeast to ferment. In the same way, I always add a bit of sugar when I mix yeast in warm water to make bread.

From eHow: "Sugar will increase the population of helpful bacteria and speed up the decomposition of your compost pile."

Okay, I guess I shouldn't have done that. Another "oops" in a summer of "oopses." At least I diluted it.

Wait...rosecanadian...it sound like you do have organic matter, peat should work, but maybe too slowly. Great that you diluted it!

I somehow have over fertilized or have poor drainage or both in several pots because the leaves have weird brown "over-cooked" edges. Thank heavens some of my container roses can take all my learning. Just about the time I get down about all my mistakes, I look at a few of my successes and remember ALL learning is helpful. It helps that I get to get wisdom form others too!

Ann - Good point...we make mistakes...but we also do pretty good too. :)

We had a very Americanized Pho tonight because we are all sick and awaiting throat cultures. I remember Strawchigaco stating earlier that the fresh herbs (often served with Pho) have lots of vitamins and good stuff.....besides the soup being hot and meaty...all I had growing in the garden was parsley, mint and green onion....we kept adding more herbs and demolished about a cup of herbs each tonight !

We all loved the fresh herbs...so I think when I feel up to making the chicken noodle soup with Costco chicken....I am not going to put the herbs in it, but we will serve them on top too!

I am also thinking we will top our Costco Italian Tomato Basil Soup with tons of fresh basil and parsley too!...The Italians often top with fresh herbs, but I was never taught to do that..

I am making a change...I am going to use the fresh herbs I have growing to top dishes and get more vitamins, I'm also going to plant cilantro and chervil, when I get well, so I have that for the winter....I think I was worried that my family wouldn't like it.....clearly they love herbs!

Also...I am hoping to feel good enough to take pictures of my new Lady Emma Hamilton...she is looking so good...maybe even Stainless Steel.

Rosecanadian...is your Stainless Steel grafted? I got 3 to root, but all died.

@ann beck 8a ruralish WA There is a delicious Peruvian version of chicken soup that adds a ton of very finely chopped fresh cilantro to the soup at the end, turning it bright green. You may like it.

Ann - yes my SS is grafted. I really love this rose!! I'm jealous :) that you have a Lady Emma Hamilton rose that's doing well!!! I tried it once...really tiny root system...and it didn't do well and eventually died.

Good job on getting healthier with the herbs!! Let us know what the throat cultures say. Covid can't be tested that way, can it? Better to have strep. Anyway, I hope you all feel better soon.

Ann: I hope your family is well & let us know about throat culture result. I'm a fan of FRESH lemon juice (no sugar). Sugar suppresses the immune system, and interfere with vitamin C absorption. Vitamin C is best in fruits (continuous small doses throughout the day), so I sip on lemon juice frequently.

We go through a big bag of lemons per week, funny that the last time I got sick was flu-shot reaction (2015-16), same with husband (he also got sick from the flu-shot .. that messed up his ears and he had to go to a ENT for ear-wax removal. Jim of PA also got sick from the flu-shot, and Ken here also did.

Lemon juice works in suppressing the appetite & helps me to drink more water. Finally got down to 118.5 lb. by digging trenches for the 18 roses in pots. Below is Gruss an Teplitz, it can be healthy if there's enough potassium in soil, and potassium is most available in moist soil high in organic matter. Will move it from rock-hard clay to soil made fluffy with decomposed grass clippings. Or else I'll plant it in a HUGE bag of MG-garden soil (fluffy & high potassium). Neighbor plant 3 of her roses in such soil and the weeds that like high-potassium were sprouting all over. Her roses are 100% clean. I tested pH of many soil samples this year, and the place with the most decomposed grass clipping tested neutral pH, despite tons of rain.

Years ago I did a research on what buffers (neutralize acidic rain the most), and here's the ranking: 1) clay or alkaline minerals (calcium, potassium, magnesium) 2) organic matter.

Straw - I can't imagine drinking lemon juice without sugar. :) :)

I drink lemon juice with no sugar too Carol and it's not difficult to build up a taste for it if you just start with a drop or two in a glass of water each time you drink and increase the amount very slowly. ❤

@rosecanadian That was one of my favorite things to drink during all my summers in Greece... lemon juice from a carton 🙃 it was a lot milder than sucking on a sour lemon, but there was no sugar added. I'm also the only person I know that loves grapefruit juice, and eats tomatoes with vinegar in the quantity that I do... I guess I like that acidic tang. Must be awful for my teeth now that I think about it...

I love grapefruit, go through one bag a week in winter. In summer I eat lots of fresh tomatoes & pears & sour cherries from my garden.

Low magnesium is rampant in USA. Google "magnesium in drinking water" and it shows Chicago's calcium level at 32 vs. magnesium level of 10. My town of hard-well-water is even higher in calcium, so I take NOW magnesium caps. See magnesium levels in cities across USA: http://mgwater.com/mgrank.shtml

The NOW magnesium caps (magnesium citrate & oxide & aspartate) work wonder in taking away my sweet tooth, I'm down to 118.5 (resuming magnesium a week ago). I took it daily when I was 110 back in 2018-19.

My 69 year-old neighbor lost over 150 lbs. (he used to be over 300 lb., now he's 6'1" and 180 lb.). He takes magnesium to curb his sweet tooth. He lost weight with a low-carb & lots of RAW veggies diet. Magnesium pill is VERY ALKALINE which neutralizes excess acid in in stomach. An acidic stomach is what cause "false hunger pangs".

With 2 magnesium pills a day, I was surprised at how much acid in vitamin-C rich fruits I could consume without a "sour" stomach. Last night I ate 3 FRESH tomatoes for dinner, but only 1 slice of pizza. I also had SOUR CHERRIES (from my tree) plus LEMON JUICE (NO SUGAR) for dessert.

It works for skinny daughter (freshman in college), she often refuses brownie but devours sour fruits. A "sour" tooth rather than a "sweet" tooth is the secret to weight-loss. Sugar makes stomach more sour & creates false hunger-pangs, but magnesium neutralizes excess stomach acid, so I can eat more "sour" fruits (tomatoes & grapefruits & lemons) that are rich in vitamin C.

Vitamin C helps with weight-loss and boosts immune system. Will give magnesium cap to husband since he spends at least $10 per week on sweets (pastries & ice-cream & fizz drinks). He runs 6 miles a day, but his cholesterol is much higher than mine and the neighbor who abstains from sugar.

I will NEVER stop magnesium cap again. I stopped taking magnesium for over a year and paid the price. I did so since I thought I got enough magnesium from the decaf coffee, and gained 10 lbs. (from 110 in 2019 to 120), now I'm down to 118.5 at 60 year-old.

An excerpt from the web: "Studies have found that excessive amounts of sugar, or glucose, in the body can inhibit the absorption of VitaminC. In the 1970s, researchers established that sugar and VitaminC have a similar structure and enter cells using the same pathway, the GLUT receptors."

Another excerpt from below link: "Our results indicate that daily consumption of 1000 mg supplementary vitamin C may be beneficial in decreasing blood glucose and lipids in patients with type 2 diabetes and thus reducing the risk of complications."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18160753/

Did more research on that and found excessive vitamin C (as in pill) has side-effects plus the body can't absorb that much at one time (lost in urine). Thus vitamin C is more effective in small doses frequently as in food.

No word on the throat cultures.

For some reason I run low on Magnesium too. Besides magnesium powder, topical really helps me with pain or headaches.

Parsley has more vitamin C than Oranges, but probably not as much as lemon. I agree a "sour tooth" is healthier......sugar can really aggravate allergy symptoms too.

Not going to get to post my roses as huge rain shower ruined them...oh well

I was 137 lb. back in 2014, then I got to know Seaweed (who used to post in Organic rose forum). She recommended lemon-water to me. She's 64-year-old & 97 lb. vegan. Khalid in Organic rose forum also started me on veggie smoothie back in 2015, his doc. was impressed with his lipid profile. Thanks to both habits, I dropped down to 110 back in 2018-19, along with taking magnesium to curb my sweet tooth (following my neighbor's example).

I got my cholesterol level to normal level just by cutting out sugar, same with my neighbor who lost 150 lb. (he's 69). What I did wrong was to STOP TAKING MAGNESIUM, which made me crave for sweets, esp. chocolate.

I always give magnesium cap to my teenager daughter for 4+ years, and she's always at 106 lb, 5'4". Then I stopped magnesium cap, and daughter shot up to 114 lb., now she's back on magnesium cap, and down to 108 lb.

Straw - you actually LIKE grapefruits? :) :) Sooo bitter! I should start making smoothies again. I usually just use fruits and a couple handfuls of kale. What veggies would you recommend adding?

Ann - that's too bad about the rain ruining your rose blooms. And we missed out too by not being able to see pictures. Ahh well...such things happen. :) Really? Parsley has more vit C than oranges? I didn't know that! Of course, probably loses all of its vit C when it's fried in butter to pour over potatoes. Oh, but soooo delicious. :)

I googled "sensitivity to bitterness and deficiency in", the web showed: "deficiency of folic acid (vitamin B9), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) can cause bitterness in the mouth".

I ate nutritional yeast (high in all B vitamins) with boiled eggs for the past 2 years and that really help to handle the bitterness of grapefruit everyday. It was Bluegirl from Texas who gifted me nutritional yeast. She's a very skinny gal at 63. The people in Houzz forum such as Bluegirl (Karen), Seaweed (Lilly), and Khalid helped me to lose weight. My cholesterol would never drop to normal if not for the friends I made in Houzz.

My favorite smoothie is kale plus parsley, did that daily summer of 2019, but my parsley patch died, so I make apple and kale smoothie (gives me more gas since apple has sorbitol). I prefer parsley and kale smoothie .. it helps with digestion. Parsley is recommended for breast cancer .. don't have breast cancer but I love the taste of parsley.

My 80 year-old mother-in-law informed me recently that her breast cancer came back and most likely be terminal. I wish I had trained daughter on smoothies when she's a toddler, it's an acquired taste, best done in childhood. I trained her in eating RAW bell peppers, and she eats 2 per day ever since.

Below is how much fruits we eat per week back in 2019 when I was 110 lb., it was possible only through magnesium caps which neutralize stomach acid so we can eat lots of sour fruits. Our family has 3 people. We joined Sam's club just to get fresher fruits. I'm having grapefruit for breakfast right now.

I love eating grapefruit but not in the traditional American way of segmented and membrane removed. I leave as much pith as possible, peeling the outer skin with a knife, and cut into slices to eat. There is a lot of nutritional value to citrus pith but also it helps to neutralize the acidity on my tongue so I can consume a lot more of the fruit with less sharpness.

Joey, that's how I eat my grapefruit too. I pre-peel them so I can eat it multiple times per day, and not just for breakfast. Husbands hates it when I pre-peel orange for his work, he said it's more bitter but I don't notice the bitter taste if pre-peeled.

Diabetes run in my family (Mom had it but lived to 93, and that afflicts both skinny siblings and overweight siblings in my family). I have to work hard in garden as well as in my diet to keep diabetes away at 60 year old.

Avocado is known to prevent diabetes, so does magnesium supplement. Husband & daughter don't eat much of below foods high in magnesium (but they love chocolate). I'm the only one who eat pumpkin seeds & cashew and greens. Will cook more bean-dishes for my family, since they don't like fish.

https://www.nutritionadvance.com/foods-high-in-magnesium/

Benefits of magnesium from below links:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-magnesium-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_9

https://www.naturalfoodseries.com/15-benefits-magnesium/

For dinner tonight, I tried the trick of taking NOW magnesium cap (has Mg citrate, oxide and aspartate), and I ate 1/2 normal amount, plus I was able to eat one big tomato for dinner & drank lemon juice (no sugar) for desert. We have bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes. Magnesium cap really takes away my sweet tooth & I prefer sour taste instead.

Taking one magnesium cap in the morning also stabilized my blood sugar so I can continue with 12 hour fast and delay breakfast. Fasting helps with those with a family history of diabetes.

Straw - that's interesting...I guess I should take my multivitamin daily to help with this potential deficiency. Thanks!! :)

I make my smoothies (haven't made them all summer) with kale, pineapples, frozen mango, frozen blueberries, and strawberries. I should harvest all of my parsley, freeze it and use it in my smoothies. Great idea, Straw!

Hmmm...my multivitamin also has 100 mg of magnesium. I really need to take my multivitamin every day. I snack on almonds during the day...they're high in mg. :)

From NIU website: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/

"Average total intakes of magnesium were 449 mg for men and 387 mg for women. Higher magnesium intakes might reduce the risk of stroke. In a meta-analysis of 7 prospective trials with a total of 241,378 participants, an additional 100 mg/day magnesium in the diet was associated with an 8% decreased risk of total stroke, especially ischemic rather than hemorrhagic stroke [38]

A meta-analysis of 7 of these studies, which included 286,668 patients and 10,912 cases of diabetes over 6 to 17 years of follow-up, found that a 100 mg/day increase in total magnesium intake decreased the risk of diabetes by a statistically significant 15% [40]. Another meta-analysis of 8 prospective cohort studies that followed 271,869 men and women over 4 to 18 years found a significant inverse association between magnesium intake from food and risk of type 2 diabetes; the relative risk reduction was 23%.

The risk of magnesium toxicity increases with impaired renal function or kidney failure because the ability to remove excess magnesium is reduced or lost. Forms of magnesium most commonly reported to cause diarrhea include magnesium carbonate, chloride, gluconate, and oxide [12]

NOW magnesium cap is 400 mg per tablet. I'm down to 118 lb. today, Sept. 30, from eating 1/2 for dinner and eat fresh tomatoes from my garden instead. No stomach upset nor diarrhea from NOW mag. cap (oxide, citrate, and aspartate).

I'm 60 and I got more work done & less clumsy when I was 110 lb. It's clumsy to carry a 8 lb. sack of potato on my body ... that weighs me down & less energy.

In the winter I used my treadmill while watching "My 600 lb. life" on TLC. It's about obese people who went through gastric bypass & exercise to lose weight. The doc had to put obese people in hospital to IV them with vitamins & minerals since they were too deficient in certain nutrients to undergo surgery. Vitamins are found in FRESH fruits and veggies, rather than foods cooked to death.

When I was 43, I stuffed myself with at least 1 cup of roasted almonds per day for energy to chase after my 2-year-old daughter. I didn't have time to eat fruits nor salad back then, it was just nuts & cooked foods. My weight shot up from 100 lb. to over 120 lb. It took me 1 year of eating bran cereal & carrots & salads to get down to 97 lb.

History repeated itself in 2014 .. too much pasteurized (cooked) juice (OJ and grapefruit juice) & lack of sleep with magnesium def, plus zero RAW fruits and veggies, and weight shot up to 137 lb (I was 53 back then). Khalid in Organic rose introduced me to RAW smoothie, and Seaweed introduced me to FRESH lemon juice.

The floor in front of my refrig. was dirty, so I used Wet wipes to clean. Didn't realize that had lotion, which left a sticky residue (stuck-tight grease). I tried cleaning with a bucket of water, didn't work. Rubbing alcohol didn't work. A week later, I spilled my kale & apple smoothie, I wiped it off with a paper towel, and that took off the grease instantly .. the floor was squeaky clean, NO NEED to wash off with a bucket of water.

In contrast, when I spilled pasteurized juice (cooked) like orange or grapefruit juice, that made the floor very sticky, and I had to wash the stuck-on-sugar with a bucket of water.

That explains why Khalid has perfect lipid profile (his doc was impressed). Khalid is 2 years younger than me.

Back in 2019 when I got down to 110 lb. I ate RAW almonds, NOT COOKED, and I notice that I could only eat 1/4 cup and be stuffed, versus previous years of eating the entire 1 cup of roasted almond and still won't feel full. It dawn on me that minerals & vitamins are destroyed by cooking. That explains why I lost 5 lbs. in one week by eating 5 apples per day after visit to Michigan orchard, versus gaining 5 lbs. in one week with apple pie.

Nutrients destroyed by heat are: minerals, vitamin E, vitamin C, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, panthothenic acid, and vitamin A.

An excerpt from below link: "To clarify the cooking losses of minerals (sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper), various food materials were analyzed before and after cooking, and the following results were obtained. (1) The mineral contents of cooked foods in mass cooking were on an average about 60-70 percent of those in raw or uncooked foods."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2081985/

I eat raw almonds...but just about 8/day.

If you remember I put coca cola on my roses/strawberries. I can't tell if it made a difference on the roses, because I can't remember which roses I put it on. I was SO not meant to be a scientist!! Anyway, my strawberry plants are covered with flowers and berries. And the berries are SO sweet!! Could just be from the sugar. LOL But the profusion of flowers/berries may be from the coke.

Yes, maybe tomorrow I will make smoothies and get back on track. Thanks for the kick in the pants. LOL :)

Cooking or pasteurization of food destroys the enzymes in food, and the natural sugar in fruits become "stickier" once cooked. I don't need "sticky sugar" to stick to my buns. LOL !!

An excerpt from below link: "Because enzyme rich foods actually “predigest” in your stomach through the action of their own enzymes. Without that “autolytic” digestion, you force the body to compensate by over producing stomach acid and digestive enzymes in the pancreas in an attempt to break down the “dead” food.

The main cause of the modern epidemic of obesity is not overeating but the rise of processed foods — which packs on more weight than raw food on a calorie by calorie basis."

https://www.jonbarron.org/article/food-raw-versus-cooked

Carol: Agree that sugar can move up to make berries taste sweet. I put biochar (black charcoal) on Bolero (in a pot), and one bloom turned BLACKISH white, I had to scrape the biochar off. Last year I put too much biochar on The Dark Lady to offset acidic rain, and the Dark Lady's scent went from amazing old rose to stinky burnt wax. I cut The Dark Lady blooms for the vase, and the house smelled like something burnt.

For years I put 6 cups of pelletized (acidic) gypsum in each tomato's planting hole, and my 12 tomatoes plants gave SOUR FRUITS.

This year I put 6 cups of ALKALINE pelletized lime (pH 9) in tomatoes' planting hole, and FRUITS BECAME SWEETER & less acidic.

Fruits are FIRMER with alkaline lime, no cracks, plus sweeter tomatoes. I ate 3 yesterday, and lost weight down to 117.5 lb. today Oct. 1. I don't need to drive 3 1/2 hrs. to Michigan to pick apples to consume for weight-loss. Mom passed away in 2019 (she's 93) so I no longer drive to Michigan to see her.

This year eating at least 6 pears per day from my tree didn't work in losing weight, until I started magnesium cap & kale smoothie. Pears have more sugar with juicy sweetness, versus apple has more fiber. The only time in my life that I could lose 5 lbs. a week was through consuming 5 apples per day .. it was so delicious with fresh Sansu apple from Michigan orchards. That's much better than Fuji apple, my fav. from store.

I don't think I buy many roses next year ... except for the four I plan to purchase from LongAgoRoses (Wise Portia, Versigny, Augusta Louis, and Duchess de Brahant). Wise Portia and Versigny died in poor drainage clay & zone 5 winter .. will did deeper for drainage.

My goal is to lose weight down to 115 by Nov., to convince husband to chop down a birch tree .. that way we can plant more peppers. My daughter eats 2 bell peppers a day, except each orange bell pepper costs $1.38 at Walmart. She goes through 14 peppers a week.

We would need a full-sun bed to plant the bell peppers to feed my daughter. From the web: "Studies have found that, just a single orange pepper has about 190 percent of Vitamin C. There's 70 milligrams of vitamin C from a medium orange, versus 183 mg. from an orange or yellow bell pepper."

What are your plans for next year garden? Thanks.

Straw - LOL I've got enough sticking to my buns alrelady. :) :) Holy cow, your family goes through a LOT of peppers...especially your daughter!

That's really interesting that biochar turned a Bolero bloom blackish white!!

A big plan for my garden next year is my husband's plan to get quite a few rain barrels and attach them to the roof to collect rainwater. He has some sort of plan for it to function better than average and to look great. The only thing is that he'll be building a platform so this will mean he won't have time to finish the deck. I think the neighbors must be tired of seeing our wood piled on the one part of the deck he did finish. Our fences are chain link...so everyone can see our yard. One neighbor has been asking about it. Plus we have some dead trees in the yard. But for my bang for the buck, I'd rather have the rain barrels. I'm also going to plant lots of annual flowers...I have about 12 packets of seeds. I'm excited about that. I'd like to plant some beans/peas/carrots...but I have to wait for the deck to be finished...cause one of my dogs likes to occasionally poop in my pots in the yard. Sigh. But he leaves the pots on the deck alone. I'm also hoping that my climbing rose, Golden Age, does well and becomes a thing of beauty!! It did well this summer and has started climbing. :)

@rosecanadian Yes the rainbarrels have to be raised up on a platform. We have 2, I wanted to paint them with pretty designs but my kids (2 and 5 at the time) were dying to paint them "with" me, which really meant go crazy and smear paint all over both of them (and themselves and the carpet) ... lol, so the rain barrels are very loud and colorful. I quickly gave up trying to get any of my own art on there, but they had such fun and they get to see their creations outside every day so it's okay, of course. We can look the other way for a lot when we see our kids happy.

Magpie - my parents let us paint the garbage cans when we were kids. The only paint colors they had were green and yellow...oh, we made a mess...really, really ugly. LOL I don't think I could do any better now. LOL LOL

I have 3 rain-barrels (50 gallon each), the overflow is connected to 4 large garbage cans (40 gallons each). We get heavy rain here, so every time we get more than 0.3 inch of rain all 7 containers are filled up. I constantly ask Alexa how much rain so I can run out during heavy rain to put the overflow into the next garbage can (where one rain-barrel is hooked up to 2 garbage cans).

For the other 3 rain-spouts, I hooked up the rain-spouts to watering pipes (buried underground leading to the entire rose bed, so I don't have to water those beds.

For the past 8 years of having 7 containers of rain-water, I watered roses with alkaline tap ONLY ONCE per year . Previous years with tap water at pH 9, roses were super-tall & stingy. I tried dissolve sulfate of potash into my tap water, and IT COULD NOT DISSOLVE, I had to add vinegar.

I used to elevate rain-barrels on bricks, but one time I forgot to move the hose to the next rose, and Crown Princess Mag. got all 50 gallons !! It got more blooms than leaves that time. So I no longer use the faucet below in the rain barrels, but draw water via a bucket from the top. My neighbor's rain barrel has a tiny opening on the top and it was a real pain to clean the inside, so he told me to get the easy to open top (with a lid on top like a garbage can).

It's faster to draw 3 gallons of water from the top, than to water from the faucet below. Elevating the barrels on high platform & hooking up a hose to the faucet, then moving the hose from one rose to another consumes more time.

Mine can be open from the top like below pic., plus it's easier to clean the inside and put away for the winter. So I took out all the bricks to use that to stop tree roots, and water by "drawing water from the top". It's great for arm-muscles:

Great advice, Straw! I had no idea that the barrels have to be put away for winter or that they have to be cleaned. Why would they have to be cleaned? And the easy open top is a great idea...I would do it the bucket way like you said!! Excellent!

There's lots of dirt from the gutter that goes into the rain barrel. It's filthy inside at the end of the year. Our temp. here is -30 below zero windchill factor, so even thick plastic crack at that temp. So I always rinse my rain-barrels and put inside my unheated garage.

Thanks! I copied what you wrote and sent it to my husband. He just told me to thank you for the information...he's keeping it to refer to. I'll send this to him too. :) The only problem is that my roses pretty much fill up the garage, leaving no room for rain barrels. We'll have to think about what to do about that....especially since we'll want lots of rain barrels.

I left my cheap plastic pots stacked up next to the wooden fence in the shade and those don't crack for the past years outside in zone 5. They are sheltered from the freezing wind & hot sun.

Plastic crack only if it's in FULL-SUN outside, and the drastic temp. change from hot sun (during the day) to freezing at night crack the plastic.

Same with my 2 rosemary plants. The plant in full-sun didn't survive the winter, but the plant next to house (sheltered from cold wind), plus gets zero sun in winter .. survived one winter. My 2 thinner plastic & cheap garbage cans to catch rain-overflow cracked in full-sun, but the one in 100% shade didn't crack. So we bought THICK plastic $37 garbage bin & lighter-color (blue) rather than black so it won't absorb the heat and crack. Our summer can get near 100 F, and thin plastic do crack at hot temp.

If you don't have much mosquitoes in your climate, a $37 garbage bin (light blue Rubbermaid) can work great as "rain-barrel". I never use the faucet below in the rain-barrel (a nuisance since I can't stack up the barrels for storage). The faucet can also leak out water not sealed well.

The only reason why we spent $80+ per rain-barrel rather than $37 thick-plastic-garbage bin is I have tons of mosquitoes in my high-rain climate, and the mesh on top of the rain-barrel filter out the leaves that fall off from the trees into the gutter.

If you don't have that many mosquitoes plus trees nearby, then a $37 THICK garbage bin works even better to catch rain water. It's shorter & wider, so it's easier to draw water from the top. Below light blue looks good outside.

Rubbermaid Commercial Products FG263200BLUE BRUTE Heavy-Duty Round Trash/Garbage Can, 32-Gallon, Blue Commercial-grade containers made from high quality materials that resist fading, warping, cracking and crushing

Very helpful advice! I love the bottom handle on the barrel!! I think that's a great idea to not bother with the faucet. Much faster to scoop the water out with a bucket. No, we don't get mosquitos here. We used to get a lot of mosquitoes when we moved here. But for the last 8 years...no mosquitoes...not a single bite.

Thanks, Straw! You always have my back!

I lost weight, down to 116.5 lb. today 10/7/21 at 60-year-old, thanks to the info. below:

"Cooking increases the share of food digested from 50% to 95%. This is supported by a study in which rats fed on softer pellets (similar to what happens to food after you cook it) weighed 30% more after 26 weeks than rats fed the same weight of standard pellets."

https://www.jonbarron.org/article/food-raw-versus-cooked

Scientists at UC San Francisco and Harvard report the same in the journal Nature:

"Raw versus cooked meat had no discernible effect on the animals' gut microbes. In contrast, raw and cooked sweet potatoes significantly altered the composition of the animals' microbiomes. Cooked food allows the host to soak up more calories in the small intestine. The researchers noted that raw diets caused mice to lose weight."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190930114546.htm

From Straw: I was 110 back in 2019 (lots of RAW fruits & RAW salad), then I got 2 Staph. infections from poison oak, and was on 2 antibiotics back in Oct. 2019. After that my weight shot up to 120 due to gut microbiome messed up by antibiotics. My 69-year-old neighbor who lost 150 lb. noted the same after his antibiotics: he gained 5 lb & really hard to lose weight after that.

Did some research and found it takes at least 3 months for the gut to be normal after antibiotics. No matter how much kefir, yogurt, or expensive probiotic pills I consumed, my gut was never the same, UNTIL I established a new gut-microbiome by eating MORE RAW fruits & veggies.

Eating 10 pears per day from my 2 pear trees this year helped, same with eating sour cherries from my tree, and tomatoes from my garden. It takes time to eat these raw foods, and that force me to slow down on chewing. The fastest way to lose weight is to CHEW SLOWER and "massage" each food particle before swallowing. My skinny 19-year-old daughter and skinny 63-year-old husband eat food very slowly. It takes them at least 20 min. to eat a small desert, and at least 1 hour to finish a meal.

When my daughter was 4, I rushed her to finish her food and she would open her mouth, indicating that "I'm still chewing". That's the trait I see in my skinny sister, for her entire life she would hold food in her mouth and chew forever.

I eat faster than everyone I know. Thanks for the info, Straw!

Rosecanadian...my husband eats fast, but didn't put on weight until he hit 30...now Mr former beanpole is feeling the effects and is trying to add more fruits and veggies.

I have been reading and listening to lots and lots on both the gut microbiome and the soil microbiome. It is so interesting!!! My gut is still really messed up from Covid. (Yes, that is what we had, not bacterial. It was bad, but not life threatening for us. Shocking since my husband, who never gets sick and was fully vaccinated and careful, brought it home. Invermectin really helped) So, I am really trying to figure out what will help me heal. I am also taking probiotics and eating probiotic foods.

Thank heavens the rain started just as we were getting sick, because watering everyday, just was not possible. I also had just repotted Jude The Obscure and may have killed it. I added more drainage for the winter and he did not like that at all. I have a second, so may have to start a new one in spring or try propagating over the winter in ground.

Strawchigaco... I will add in as many raw fruits and veggies as I can! I also remember you writing about lightly cooked crunchy veggies....those sound good right now too. I'm not sure how I feel about eating raw squash, but I think cooked crunchy might be do-able....and I won't forget raw apples.

Ann - I was the same way...I could eat anything I wanted to eat and not gain an ounce. I miss those days.

Wow...you and your husband have Covid. Dang, that's nasty. I hope you get fully over it soon.

And I hope that your Jude survived.

Ann Beck: Thank you for the report on your family, I have been worried for you. I'm glad that you are OK and working in the garden. Best wishes to your Jude (it gave me hell & doesn't like my dense clay, but does well for alkaline & sandy folks).

I vow to stop posting in public due to the attack I got recently for my flu-shot reaction back in 2015. That has nothing to do with Covid !! I reported my horrendous suffering (worse that childbirth & wished I could die), and I got attacked in another thread. Never mind that Jim in PA and Ken (another poster) also suffered from that flu-shot. Plus 4 local people I know.

I write this for you only. Feel free to message me and we can chat about it. I never post in Houzz ever again, too many negative people who shoot down on those who share. Those who never share, and never post pics., tend to negate those who do.

Thank you both...I am trying to focus on gardening to take my mind off the slow recovery and feeling blessed that mine wasn't worse.

Love to you both. And I hope your healing continues until you're 100%, Ann. :)

rosecanadian I started this post focusing on being healthy and taking good care of oneself more so than roses. Also to be safe, esp. from crooks.

My sister mailed 2 checks made out by HopeToday (by her credit union) to another sister's mailbox in CA, this doc works for HopeToday, a Catholic charity for lepers overseas.

A crook stole the 2 checks from my doc-sister's mailbox in front of her house. He cashed both at the bank. It took months with the police before my sisters could get their $10,000 back.

My sister informed: "I don’t think Bill Pay from the bank is the best way. H. and I lost 2 checks, each of $5000, both were issued and sent directly from her credit union, but the crook endorsed in the back, faking Hope Today and wrote payable to himself and cashed. Best way is to write in the back of the check: For Deposit only to account of name of receiver."

The only safe checks are written with Uniball check-writing pen (cannot be altered), and ENDORSED ahead of time on the back of the check "for deposit ONLY into the receiver's name".

Back in my late 20's, I read a book on crooks-prevention, and I have been using Uni-Ball check-writing pen for 30+ years. See below link on mail security box:

Uni-Ball 207 Pens Ideal to Prevent Check Washing (mailboss.com)

Wow! I'm so glad that your sisters recovered the money! I had no idea about Uniball pens. Those will be the next ones I buy. Interesting about COVID and allergies. My daughter, Kedra (a resident doctor) has terrible allergies...and every other resident in her hospital BUT her got COVID.

Carol: thanks for the report that Kedra never get Covid despite working as a doctor with her allergies. Studies showed that people with allergies are less likely to catch Covid. With my allergies I'm a vitamin-C hog, always crave for sour fruits high in vitamin C.

Rampant check frauds are reported this year. My brother, a doc, got his check stolen & altered to more than $5,000, made out to the crook rather than the insurance company he sent the check to. He wrote the check with regular pen that could be erased & altered. It took him months before he could get the money back from the bank.

A friend sent $20 in a greeting-card to me to pay for my rose rootings, and I never receive it. Neighbors in my Nextdoor forum report thefts INSIDE the post office, with 8 postal workers got caught. Checks & money & gift cards sent to a Postal box were ripped opened when enclosed in greeting cards.

Unreal...postal workers stealing money, ripping mail open, etc...so glad they got caught.

Cost of Amazon Prime Membership is $139 per year. We have Amazon Prime Membership for many years with no problems, until 2 scams in recent years. Daughter started college last year, so we bought a laptop for her. The next day we received MANY phone calls (supposedly from Amazon) that there's a breach in our Amazon account and someone made an illegal purchase of $40. I ignored those 10+ phone calls.

My sister, the doc, also received such phone calls (with heavy Indian accent) in California after a big purchase. She answered the calls!! Then she wasted time checking with Amazon, and they told her it's a scam.

Another Amazon scam happened this month when I purchased Jiffy Organic starter potting soil to root roses. It's $8.50, sold by DAILY NEEDED. After 3 weeks wait, I NEVER receive it, so I check the ratings of the seller DAILY NEEDED. Lots of customers complaint that they never receive items bought from DAILY NEEDED, and this seller has 87% negative reviews on Amazon, yet Amazon still allow such seller to scam many people by low prices, but never deliver the item.

My husband told me I should buy items sold by Amazon only, or Prime items. And if I buy items sold by sellers other than Amazon, I should always check their ratings.

The neighbors in my Nextdoor forum advised to NEVER CLICK on a link sent by a stranger. If I want to do transfer money through Zelle, I go to my bank's website, rather than the link provided by the seller (a scammer). That's how someone got scammed by using the faked link to Zelle provided by the seller, stealing $300 from the buyer.

Below are from my Nextdoor forum: "Never Ever sign up for something through a link sent from someone. You sign up for Zelle, not the other way around. I had a similar situation through Face Book Marketplace that they wanted me to pay them through Paypal but use the link they sent me.

On FB someone is renting a 3 bedroom 2 bath home for $1K. They require a deposit and first month. Here is the scam. We rent this apt through AirBNB, and they will forward you a link to follow to send them the money. I knew was a scam so I played along. I reported to FB.

It's unfortunate, but I have reported more than 20 accounts to Facebook, and they do nothing. Even some of those accounts that are selling newer cars for $1,500 with a Neme like "Mike Rogers" a white fellow, when you look at their friends and pictures, is in reality someone from India, Pakistan, Zimbawe... etc.

Never ever click a link from an unknown email, text, or solicitation. Venmo is another method people use to steal your money. It's not like the bank or even PayPal where you can dispute a charge.

Never EVER open a link someone has forwarded you. If you need to sign up for something, go directly to the biz page yourself and sign up. You can usually hover over the link itself to see the web address or if you do click on it, you can see the actual address it sent you to is not legit, even if the page looks to be."

I just had someone try the scam on me. They said that they sent me $400 via Zelle but I needed to click on a link in the email to increase my Zelle limit to $700 then I would just send them back $300. I called him out on it and he stopped responding. This guy's name is Kayden Light. Beware folks! Scammers are out in full force now."

The above are reports from my Nextdoor forum in my Chicago suburb.

Sellers on Facebook Marketplace can be victims of scam, as reported from my Nextdoor forum:

"If you sell on Facebook Marketplace, beware. There is a scam happening where someone will contact you saying they want the item. They will ask you for your phone number. Once you give it, they will say they want to make sure you are legit and they will send you a google voice text to confirm. Don't give your phone number. If you do, don't give them the six-digit code sent to your phone. It allows them to open an account using your info to defraud others. You'll be left with all the legal issues to deal with. Do an internet search for Google Voice scams.

Never give out your phone number, but especially never give out a code sent to your phone to anyone. If the deal sounds too good, it most likely a scam.

One day I got this scammer who told me give me your phone number, then I will send you the money by Zelle. But I need your email id for your Zelle account to send the money. I stopped responding to such nuts and block them every time.

At least 80% of messages I receive on Marketplace are from scammers.

I told them I only had a landline and gave the the number for the non emergency police. They weren’t too happy with me."

The above info. are from my Nextdoor forum in my Chicago suburb.

It's maddening. I had a Facebook request from someone I used to know. I didn't open the request or answer back...since there are so many scammers everywhere...and I've had people phone me and say that their account has been hacked and don't respond to a friend request. Sigh.

Carol: Heard on the news yesterday 9/2/22 that there's scam e-mail supposedly from Instagram. There are countless scam e-mails using Walmart, Virus-protection software, and Facebook websites to fool people into giving their password.

A tech. pro. Tim Devine from my Nextdoor forum gave this advice: "It's a really simple process. With Chrome or Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer you can "see" and copy the existing web page, post it to a web server you control, set up a fake email and they're set. Use the email to bulk email your new link to your new contacts, it could be a couple of addresses to thousands of addresses. If their asking for say $350.00 and get 10 answers, they've just made $3500.00 dollars. Now if they do this 20 time a month, they've made about $70,000 a month. And if they can do this for 10 months a year they can live really well for a little work.

And a lot of these people are doing it through servers that are outside the United States and using the TOR routers it's extremely hard to prosecute them. NEVER EVER click on a link you don't know or a link you haven't asked for. Email is great but it has been corrupted by bad actors."