By Thelma Ledford
Scientists are proving that the microorganisms in the soil are beneficial to health; the breathing and working with it is healthy. Good soil is active and alive. Friends, did you know that it is good for us to make mud pies! I found SHOs (soil microorganisms) in the health food stores as supplements. Foods that benefit the body must come from good soil. Even if you purchase food from today’s farmers, the soil may have been damaged by chemicals, and seeds he used may be hybridized or altered seeds. The soil has minerals, but chemicals destroy the microorganisms which release them for the plants to use. When the soil is sick—the plants are sick—people are sick! We are all eating “sick” foods today. A person would have to eat large amounts of food in order to obtain the daily nutrient needs for a healthy body. This is why adding good supplements are important. Of course, keep in mind the body can tell the difference between the real and the synthetic products. Choose your supplements as closely as you choose your food. You cannot fool the body’s defense system! Growing up in a rural community we were surrounded by good food. We didn’t have to make a decision what to eat, and no supplements were needed. Most people either lived on a farm or had their own gardens. The fertilizer was from barnyard, which the soil recycled. Little, if any, pesticides were used. I recall the ordeal of picking off potato bugs by hand. In the summers we picked wild berries. We dusted with sulfur powder to avoid ticks and chiggers. My sister and I washed berries and canning jars in a large #3 wash tub outside the house while Mother prepare things inside for the canning process. We picked and peeled peaches, apples, pears, snapped green beans, shelled peas, or anything else that we were old enough to do. We were all involved in preserving food for the winter months. I remember helping make sauerkraut. It was delicious! I still make it occasionally. Recently I purchased a can and discovered it had sugar in it. I threw it in the garbage. Mother canned sausages in the fall after getting fresh meat. I remember “hog-killing” time, dressing chickens, curing hams, and many other procedures to have meat. Daddy loved fishing and hunting so he brought in most of our meat. (Yes, we ate pork; mother lived to be 97). People had very little cash money and these activities were essential for life. As we grew older Daddy would take us hunting and fishing. One trip I remember after it had just snowed; we wrapped our feet in plastic bread wrappers and followed rabbit tracks across the field behind daddy. Sugar was used only occasionally in those days. Vegetables have plenty of sugar when your raise them yourself. Corn from the garden picked fresh is sweet and delicious, but after about twenty minutes the “sweet” is lost; that is why sugar is added to most vegetables today. I tried to find a can of kidney beans without sugar. I had to purchase them from the health food store or cook them from their dried state. How do I know these things? I have an inquiring mind. I grew an organic garden for many years. No chemicals! No pesticides! I discovered that a healthy plant is protected from disease. If you garden, try to choose plants or seeds that have not been altered. Tomatoes in the market place today are tough, and not fit to eat. Try to grow your own and can them. It’s easy to can them. Years ago I was curious about pH balance in the body. I learned from the care of a backyard swimming pool that bacteria did not grow when the pH was in balance. My front yard was treated naturally for five years; today I maintain it by keeping the pH balanced. It is soft, spongy, and teeming with life.
Nature does most of the work. Also, the key to health is maintaining the body in proper balance by eating a variety of foods. It is important to get back to the basics by using real foods with as little processing as possible. The body will appreciate it.
