DON’T DELAY PRIMARY CARE VISITS

Delaying primary care visits can put your health at risk. It’s important to prioritize primary care visits even when you’re busy juggling other responsibilities in life. And with cold and flu season here, taking steps to stay healthy and prevent the spread of illness can give you and your family peace of mind.

Here’s a look at key primary care visits to get caught up on:

Annual Wellness Checkups

ton Methodist Primary Care Group at Riverstone. “They provide protection for you and others against flu, pneumonia, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.”

Cancer Screenings

“Seeing a primary care provider who knows you and your health history can help you manage your health — and even save your life,” said Lola Okunnu, M.D., board-certified family medicine physician with Houston Methodist Primary Care Group at Sugar Land.

If you have been putting off primary care wellness visits, you may not be aware of cancer screenings that are appropriate for your curLola Okunnu, M.D., family medicine, and Zenithe Pierre Ware, M.D., rent age. “Your primary care prointernal medicine and pediatrics vider may recommend getting a mammogram, colonoscopy, lung cancer screening, prostate screening or another cancer screening test at a wellness visit,” said Okunnu. “These tests help find certain cancers early, when they are more treatable.”

Chronic Disease Management

Mental Health Screening

You can talk to your primary care provider about mental health concerns, such as anxiety, depression and other mood disorders.

Vaccinations

“It’s more important than ever to stay on schedule with recommended vaccines,” said Zenithe Pierre Ware, M.D., boardcertified internal medicine and pediatrics physician with Hous-

“Your primary care provider can also help coordinate your care with specialists, which is essential when you’re managing diabetes, heart disease, asthma and other conditions,” said Ware.

Don’t delay in getting caught up on your family’s preventive wellness checks, screenings and vaccinations. To schedule inperson or virtual appointments with Houston Methodist Primary Care Group, call 713.394.6639 or visit www.houstonmethodist. org/pcg/southwest.

Visit www.houstonmethodist.org/sugarland to learn more about Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.

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By Alisa Murray

Hey Sweet Lifers! I love to plant seeds and watch them grow and share my knowledge about herbs, flowers and of course, veggies with anyone who will listen. I have a pretty patch of veggies, flowers and herbs going year round and that is one of the best parts about living in Texas. We can grow all year long and have sustainability right from our yards!

At each season there’s always things to do, and digging in the dirt is my therapy! February is a great month to start growing, and the most important thing you need to do is make sure you have prepared your soil. It’s like building a house in that your foundation has to be right in order for everything to thrive. Then it’s really a matter of figuring out what you like to eat and how your garden will serve both you and the wildlifes and then sprinkle your seeds and watch things grow!

There are three general types of gardens. The Herbal Garden, which will provide you with not only fabulous seasonings and spices for your dishes, but also serves to help create your apothecary for home remedies. Many herbs are companion plants that also serve to protect vegetables from common pests. Planting them alongside your vegetables allows them to help you while letting them do what they do best.

The second type of garden is The Vegetable Garden, which is pretty self explanatory. The real task in creating one of these is how much to plant to sustain your family and planting things that you eat regularly.

The third type of garden is the Cutting Garden, which is composed of flowers from both seeds and bulbs to use in salads and in making arrangements to decorate your home. Many flowers are used in apothecary and in making bath and beauty to enjoy and gift. Over the next several months I will be showing you how and when to grow in each of the different gardens, as well as suggestions for what to do with the fruits and flowers of your labor. February in the Herbal Garden is time to start seeds. These should be done in small containers that can then be transferred directly into the garden after the last frost. Because I also do a lot of cooking, I actually plant all of the main herbs and keep those going year round. You will want to think about what you like to eat and let that dictate what you grow. If you love Italian foods, then you’ll want parsley, both curly and flat-leafed, oregano and thyme as an example. If you already have herbs growing, cutting them back regularly and adding nutrients to the soil is a must. Converting your clippings to dried herbs restocks your pantry all the time. You can also sprinkle them in ice cube trays filled with olive oil and freeze them to pop into soups, stews and sauces. In the Vegetable Garden, colder crops grow better now, such as Swiss chard, peas, onions, lettuces, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, beets, mustard greens, collards, carrots, turnips, radishes, spinach, cauliflower and broccoli. For the Brassica’s, keeping them pest free can be done by planting the companion herb rue.

In the Cutting Garden, it is time to sprinkle seeds of zinnias, poppies and dahlias, tulips, daffodil, dahlia and lilly bulbs can be put in as well, although in my garden the deer have dug up and eaten bulbs, and those that do bloom, the deer come along and munched on the blooms, so I just toss seeds into composted prepped spaces and keep them watered. This has provided me with a sea of blooms to use in arrangements, and the buzzing wildlife seem to really enjoy dedicated spaces for blooming plants. I like it best to have an area close to the vegetable beds so that the butterflies and bees are fed, and they then meander over next door to pollinate the cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. This has worked very well and looks much nicer. Each type of garden brings so much joy and has lessons in patience and perseverance. I encourage you to just pick something and get growing!