ladykitsu: I very much doubt that fireblight had anything to do with the problems of your newly planted pear trees. Fireblight attacks actively growing trees, and yours, as you describe them, have never begun to grow. Something else is causing your problems; perhaps bad nursery stock, but more likely something you are doing at planting time, perhaps allowing the roots to dry out, overwatering after planting, or God knows what. If you decide to try again, order in bareroot nursery stock from a good nursery, and plant very early; as soon as you can work in the soil without your fingers freezing. A May-planted tree that has not leafed out by August is dead for practical purposes. When putting in little trees, loosen the soil around the planting hole well, but do not add any fertilizers or other soil amendments in the planting hole. Do not overwater. And please do not try any more 4-in-1 or 3-in-1 trees until you have mastered planting the 1-in-1. You would be better off with two trees of complementary varieties than any of the multi-grafted trees. Spraying your little trees will have no effect at all on fireblight. You don't say what spray material you are using (which you should helpfully specify), but there is no spray chemical in this world that will stop an active fireblight infection once it is underway. I mention this not because I think you have fireblight, but for your future reference. If you have been spraying the trees with such frequency using a dormant spray such as oil or copper, you may have killed the trees with the spraying itself. For lurquizo: While I respect (in a way) your aversion to the use of "poisons" on your fruit trees, I ask you this question: If you had a bad case of strep throat and the doctor prescribed an antibiotic, would you take it? Fruit trees occasionally need the interventions of modern science and technology to maintain their health and productivity, and if you consistently decline to take advantage of them you will end up with dead trees. Fireblight is a bacterial disease, easy to spot on pear trees by the blackened leaves and the shepherd's crook bend at the ends of dead shoots. It starts early, and, while heat and rainfall may favor its spread, you can have both heat and rain and still largely eliminate fireblight by using two sprays of agricultural streptomycin; one at full bloom, and another about a week later. Streptomycin is an antibiotic, not your usual chemical, that stops fireblight before it gets started. Like so many other fruit trees diseases, prevention is the key, since once a disease like this gets going it is impossible to cure. I don't know where you are located (you should say), but here in Northern Virginia we have more than a month of temperatures in the mid-90's and occasional thunderstorms. But I have no fireblight in my orchard of over 65 trees because I applied streptomycin twice; in late April and early May. Streptomycin has no effect whatsoever on honeybees (which I keep here) or other beneficial insects. General "trimming" of the trees in the hope of eliminating fireblight will not work. If fireblight does appear during the growing season, pruning must be prompt and targeted at the infected branches. When you cut through a branch, inspect the interior to see if the wood is completely healthy with no signs of interior blackening. Keep pruning down until you see no more suspicious color within the branches or twigs. Gardening is not so tough once you figure out and cooperate with nature's cycles, and are willing to use carefully targeted chemical interventions when that becomes neccessary. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

One comment on manure from farm animals. Recent research suggests that kids that grow up around farm animals are much less likely to develop allergies than other kids. The theory is that the constant exposure to relatively harmless bacteria causes the immune system to focus on infective substances rather than on harmless materials such as molds and pollens, etc. I know of no studies that show that exposure to animals and manures (certainly plenty fresh on the farm) causes an increase in the infection rate of children (or adults). If you have worked on a farm, you know that you don't wear gloves all the time to protect yourself from the bacteria. It is to protect the hands from injuries. Agreed that exposure to e coli and other organisms that one has not developed a resistance to or a tolerance of can produce significant disease in an individual whose immune system has not be "hyped" up by continuous exposure to bacteria and other organisms. It is also highly likely that that individual has allergy problems. In the military (the same things happens when one travels), people coming for training from other countries tend to pick up significant GI problems from exposure to the local e coli and other bacteria. If you go to their country for long, you will probably experience the same thing. Again, in general, to contact an infective agent, usually a certain "load" is required to cause infection unless a person is severely immunocompromised. An example is typhoid where a healthy individual will need to consume in excess of 4000 typhoid bacteria at one time to contact the disease. Washing lettuce will reduce but not remove all bacteria. But it is not usually necessary (or possible) to remove all the bacteria (unless you cook it to 160 degrees for 20 minutes or boil it, etc). Our bodies have over many thousands of years developed amazing ability to tolerate our environment. It is reasonable to disagree on this. I'll have to admit I have eaten all kinds of things out in the garden (usually wiping off the obvious dirt first), and have not noticed and ill effect. But then my body has undoubtedly has developed a level of immunity to the organism in my garden. A level of respect for the danger of eating possibly contaminate food materials is certainly warranted. For me, fish pond water would not concern if it had been applied early in the production of the crops. Just an opinion.

Northern Pike tastes fine if it has been prepared properly. It is easily ruined, however. As a deterrnet measure, Pike carry glands under their skin that are inactive until the fish is in the throes of death. When the fish is dealt a death blow or wound, these glands release a foul tasting, fishy oil, that permeates the flesh. What to do: Immedaitely after the fish has been killed, it must be skinned within 5 minutes. If this is done, the meat will rival perch, but if not done, it will have a bitter, fishy flavor. Often, the tail piece is strong tasting anyway.

Technically speaking, it's not legal to change an addressee on a postage affixed envelope. In reality, the post office isn't too picky about it. Technically, you're supposed to take it to the post office and have it replaced. Like I said, I don't think they're too picky, and have done it before. But we are talking about an organization who sued the Boy Scouts for putting their fundraiser brochures on mail boxes! Ob $aver thought: My favorite is paying bills online. Between postage, envelope and check fees, it's realistically 50¢ per bill saved. I'm saving $25/year easily, plus the gas of going to a mail box. Another favorite is my little "pantry". I hate going to the store and people who have to run to the store every day for something are nuts. Worst case, I can always make a can of soup. Plus I have a few groceries in case of a storm. Another phrase I enjoyed came from one of the spouse-swap programs where the minimalist/frugal wife's motto was "Do I need it? Do I love it? Does it make me money?" If not, toss it. Oh, and I was proud of myself... My washer was dumping water all over the floor and I thought I'd have to replace a washer after only 26 years of dependable service. Hey Joyful, shouldn't that have been under warranty??? ;) Being crippled up like I am these days, I can't do too much but I was curious to see if there was a chance of it just being a hose or something, plus I couldn't really wreck it, so, after tearing it open, sure enough, all that happened was two hose clamps lost their tension. A trip to the auto parts store, 2 - 25¢ hose clamps, maybe an hour, well, couple hours of "work" (more play and confidence builder) and I saved the cost of a new machine and disposal of the old. So what would that be? Anywhere from $100-$500 per hour pay, tax free, and I'm washing away again. Maybe I'll get another 26 years out of it? Well maybe not, but I'd expect a couple years of use anyway. Oh, other little things, like making a non-electric humidifier out of an ice cream pail sitting in front of the heat register. Cut holes in the top to keep the cat from playing in there. Plus I had to set it into a dishpan because she got mad and tipped it over! There's so many things, I can't think of them. But I enjoy reading others ideas too. I guess I try to make money spending an investment. For instance the Frugal Gazette books to me are an investment since they give you ideas and motivation. Use the library for movie borrowing & rental. Bought a few dozen popular movies for $1 each and share them with a lot of people. Shop for things on the internet to see what they'll cost, then know if it's a good buy when you go out. I had to buy a new dryer and saved $200 by buying a floor model at the "BB" Store. Researched things I wanted and checked reviews and the like. My $5/mo ISP has paid for itself so many times it's hilarious.