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Angels in My Garden Week #50
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"There are two ways to live: you
can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a
miracle." Hello Fellow Gardeners, Although we've had very little sun lately, and my winter garden is not doing quite as well as I would like, I have managed to keep up a pretty good supply of Swiss chard. I picked this bowl full a few days ago.
I've been reading Eliot Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook and I'm convinced that double coverage is the way to go with "cold-houses" (greenhouses that don't have any artificial source of heat). A second cover, in addition to the greenhouse structure is provided at night, to hold in the warmth that the soil absorbs during the day. Double coverage can be achieved in a number of ways but in our small gardens, the most practical way is probably to use a fabric cover that is supported by a wire cage that sits about 12 inches above the soil. Coleman also suggests that in our climate zone it's best to stick with the cold-hardy crops of spinach, leeks, claytonia (miner's lettuce, winter purslane, spring beauty or Indian lettuce), Asian greens and mache (lamb's lettuce). These are the hardiest of the cold-hardy crops. If you're interested in winter gardening, I strongly recommend his book. Here's a picture of my winter garden with Swiss chard, spinach, some leaf lettuce (that is growing rather slowly), onions and garlic.
Well my dear fellow gardeners, this will be my last letter for the year. It's been great communicating with all of you. In fact, Angels in My Garden has been a welcome respite during a very challenging time in my life. As some of you know, my husband, Rich, was diagnosed with stage IV cancer two weeks after I started writing Angels in My Garden. The doctors told us that he had 6-8 months to live without chemotherapy and possibly 20-22 months with chemo. He initially chose not to take the chemotherapy. Instead we embarked on an intensive nutritional program called Gerson Therapy, that offered a possible cure. We did Gerson for five months. This entailed my making, and his drinking, fresh juice every hour throughout the day. In addition he had to eat three special meals a day, all made fresh from organic ingredients. My garden provided some of the fresh vegetables that had to go into the juices and meals so, more than ever before, the garden was a labor of love. . After five months, although Rich was feeling fine, his PET scan showed that the tumors were growing. At that point, we decided to start chemotherapy. We had done a lot of research into alternative cancer therapies while he was on Gerson Therapy and we had a plan for what we would do if Gerson didn't do the job. He has now been on chemo for about five months while also taking what have proven to be some amazing supplements. One of the supplements called "Live" is a combination of 180 nutrients (actual foods, not derivatives) that have been dehydrated and made into a powder that is mixed with water. In addition to the whole array of vitamins and minerals, it has active enzymes, probiotics, etc. The other "supplement" is called "Paw Paw." It's from the fruit of the paw paw tree and has been used by indigenous people for centuries to cure all kinds of ills. Recent research has shown that it can stop the growth of cancer tumors by cutting off the blood supply to abnormal tissues. It also claims to minimize the side-effects of chemotherapy. In the words of his oncologist, the combined results of the chemo and these two supplements is "almost unbelievable." And this is a doctor who was very skeptical of any kind of nutritional therapies. We both believe that all that juicing and eating fresh organic meals boosted Rich's immune system and removed a lot of the toxins from his system, preparing his body to be able to handle the chemotherapy. He's back at work full-time and feeling fine with almost no side-effects from the chemo. I am spreading the word about these supplements in case they might be helpful to you and/or your friends or loved ones in the future. We're not telling ourselves that this battle has been won, or even that a final victory over this disease is inevitable but we're hopeful, and grateful for these months in which he's been feeling good and enjoying life Two other factors that have no doubt played a major role in all of this are his attitude – which has been incredibly positive throughout, and all the prayers of our friends and family that have interceded for us with the Divine Healer. Your participation in Angels in My Garden helped me to stay positive and focused on Life. So thank you all. With much love, Rose "Mirabai" Lord
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