By Rick Ryckeley
Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services

It's gardening time once again. Beans, squash, okra, bell peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes are all at the neighborhood nurseries just waiting to be planted in backyard gardens across this county. After you buy your plants, soil conditioner, fertilizer, and pesticides, drop by the hardware and tire store. Pick up a couple five gallon orange buckets and a dozen used tires - you'll need them for your potatoes and upside down tomatoes (The Wife will love this one!).

Beware Fayette and Coweta counties, upside-down-killer tomatoes could soon be growing right in your very own back yard. Now I know what you're thinking, there's no such thing as a killer tomato, much less upside down ones. But how sure are you? Just a few hundred years ago anything red found in nature was considered to be poisonous and never eaten, red tomatoes included. Now we not only eat red ones, but some of us fry up and eat the green ones also. The only side effect could be a belly ache from consuming too many of them. (Like such a thing is even possible.) Last year did you spray and dump gallons of chemicals on your tomatoes to protect them from being eaten by hordes of hungry little bugs? This practice does a great job killing bugs, but also does a job on your health. And pesticides aren't the only things that could endanger your health. If you eat the poison leaf or stem of the tomato plant your health could be in grave danger.

Find a sunny spot in the yard away from all of The Wife's flowers. (Anywhere in the front yard should be perfect.) Start by placing one tire flat on the ground, filling it with dirt, and planting five potato sets about five inches deep. As the green vine grows about a foot just add another tire and additional dirt so that there are only two inches of the vine left exposed. Continue adding tires until the end of the growing season then push the six feet tall stack of tires over and harvest all of the potatoes. The Wife will not mind the stack of tires in the front yard or all of the orange buckets hanging up around the house for your upside down tomatoes - trust me.

Poisoning by liquids and powders was the third leading cause of preventable injury and death in 2001. Almost 150,000 people in Georgia were poisoned last year - unfortunately children account for sixty percent of this number. Outside, one of the leading causes of poisoning is from pesticide. A pesticide is classified as a chemical that is used to destroy, control, or prevent pests. (No, not in-laws.) Pesticides can enter the body through the eyes, nose, lungs, or absorption directly through the skin. Exposure ranges from a simple skin rash to vomiting, disorientation and in severe cases, death can occur. When handling pesticides, always read the label instruction on application, storage, and disposal of the container. If you mix pesticides with water, remember to use chemical gloves and a chemical mask. Liquids that are applied to vegetable gardens, roses, weeds, and lawns should not utilize the same sprayer.

Go around the outside of the house and dispose of The Wife's hanging plants -only the ones in full sun. Cut a silver-dollar sized hole in the bottom of the bucket and place a tomato plant upside down in the bucket. The top four inches of the tomato plant should stick out the bottom of the bucket. Fill around the root ball of the tomato plant (which should be about in the center of the bucket) until the dirt is within two inches of the top. Hang up the bucket and water every other day. The tomato will grow upside down just like a hanging plant, no staking needed! Other than water, dusting correctly with a pesticide will be the only thing between you and a great harvest of upside down tomatoes. Just remember to take a few precautions before grabbing that sock full of Sevin Dust.

Wear a long-sleeve shirt and a particle mask when applying powders. If skin comes in contact with pesticide, immediately wash affected area with soap and water. My Dad uses an old sock full of Sevin Dust to dust his tomatoes (I don't, I can't find one without a hole in it.) When dusting your upside-down tomatoes, always use an approved sprayer or bugs may not be the only thing that gets poisoned.

Poisons can enter the body the same way as pesticides. Medicines and common household products can be deadly if use incorrectly. To children lemon furniture polish smells like a lemon (imagine that), Pine Sol looks like apple juice, blue window cleaner looks like blue sports drinks, and a blood pressure pill looks like a breath mint. To be safe, keep all cleaners and medicines in their original containers and behind locked cabinet doors. Along with medications and cleaners, many plants in and around the house such as dieffenbachia, elephant ears, caladium, boxwood, holly, hydrangea, iris, azalea, and morning glory can be deadly. All are considered to be poisonous. The berries, stems, and flowers can be poisonous if touched or swallowed, and to small children or pets they can be deadly. Keep a bottle of Syrup of Ipecac in the medicine cabinet for inducing vomiting if instructed to do so by the poison control center.

The new Georgia Poison Control hot line number is 1-800-222-1222 and help is available twenty-four hours for advice on all types of poison emergencies. Contact their Web site at www.georgiapoisoncenter.com for additional information on preventable poisoning. Exposure or ingestion of some plants can cause you to turn pink and make you swell up like a giant marshmallow. This is very similar to how you will look when The Wife sees the towers of used tires in the front yard and the bright orange buckets hanging up around the house. Trust me - She Who Must Be Obeyed will not be amused.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]

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