Couple work hard to grow good health
 by Gordon Cotton/Vicksburg Post
CARLISLE - Kay McCaleb Bilbro hasn’t had a cold, not even a sore throat, in years. That probably can be attributed to the truth in the old axiom, "You are what you eat," for she and her husband, Joe, eat healthy.
Much of what Kay puts on their table is grown in her garden - and everything has been raised without the use of pesticides.
It all began about 25 years ago when Kay went to a doctor in Jackson, a personal friend, when she had stomach problems. She well remembers his advice: "Kay, I make my money off of medicine, but if you will just get rid of pesticides in your life, you will be amazed how much better you will feel."
Avoiding foods produced with the use of pesticides isn’t easy, especially when you eat in the workplace cafeterias where much of what is served is pre-packaged and full of preservatives. So it was not until Kay retired several years ago that she could really give full attention to organic gardening.
With the price of food going up every week, Kay began with an asparagus bed, artichokes and strawberries.
"I thought, well, if I can just raise those things and we can enjoy it and have fun doing it - well, it just blossomed from there," she said.
Her garden, just outside the house, isn’t all that big - about 1,200 square feet - but there’s a lot produced in it.
"We have yellow and white potatoes, beets, kale, three kinds of lettuce, four different kinds of onions, two kinds of cucumbers, bush butter beans, green beans, Java beans, six or eight kinds of peppers, okra, English peas, several types of tomatoes, four kinds of squash - Joe doesn’t care much for squash, but everybody else does."
She also has an herb garden and an orchard with pear and apricot trees, grapevines and blueberries.
She still goes to the doctor for a yearly checkup, but since she started healthy eating from her garden, she’s had no diseases, no kidney or stomach problems, though she knows that doesn’t mean she and Joe won’t have colds or other ailments.
Though she got interested in gardening because of health reasons, there’s also something else about the land.
"You can’t let go," she said. "You’ve got a tap root.
Share
(« Go Back) |
|
|
