FALLING FAR FROM THE TREE
Someone must take photos for the newspaper at all the sesquicentennial events and that someone is me. I’ve had a good time shooting at the events and we have lots of photos for you in this issue.
One of the things I really enjoyed was Victoria Everett’s talk on Wild Edibles which was held on Sunday at the I&GN Depot in the “Cheyenne Mountain” Missouri Pacific Diner Car #36. Me and about 15 other people listened to her discuss things growing on your property that are edible. She will even come to your property to tell you what you can eat and, probably more importantly, what you shouldn’t eat.
Victoria delivers papers f or The Reporter on Wednesdays, and she’s also become a good friend of mine. We laugh a lot when we’re together. But she has a back story that, if you’ve met her recently, you wouldn’t believe.
When she was 34 years old in 2006, she weighed 248 pounds. After suffering a bad burn when she was a child, she was on antibiotics almost continually for all 34 years of her life which caused a whole lot of health issues and suffering.
She suffered from urinary tract infections, sinus infections, ear infections, pneumonia, IBS, severe migraines, headaches, severe allergies, acne and mental illness. At 34 her body was so riddled with inflammation she could barely walk.
She had her gallbladder removed thinking that would make her feel better, but it only made her feel worse.
“About a month after my surgery I was lying in bed and I just knew I was dying,” she said.
At the time she proclaimed herself to be an atheist and wanted nothing to do with the judgmental Christians she had grown up with but having nowhere else to turn she started praying. And right after she started praying, she was watching television and an infomercial came on with a guy talking about eating whole, organic foods in order to heal naturally through a healthy diet.
“I gave it a tr y even though I didn’t think it would do any good,” she said.
She started to feel a little bit better then came across an article about eating raw foods because they have a higher nutritional value and living enzymes.
“I spent one day eating raw fruits and vegetables and woke up the next morning feeling better than I had in my entire life. I also knew I had my answer on how to heal and learned a valuable lesson on the power of prayer: Ask and you shall receive. My faith was restored,” she added.
Over the next year—eating only raw fruits and vegetables— she lost 120 pounds and has kept it off ever since and still only eats vegan. In addition to eating raw food like salads, she also makes smoothies and teas with natural plants she finds on her property as well as turmeric and other spices.
Going through all that when she was younger is a testament to how she eats these days and she is in very good health. She turned her life around and she has a deep desire to share what she learned with others, hence the talk on wild edibles on Sunday.
Her talk discussed things on her property and possibly on yours too, like mustang grapes, lambsquarters, horsemint, loblolly pine needles, youpon holly, spiderwort, dewberries and a few others. Some of them can be used in salads, others need to be cooked first. She even brought examples to pass around so we could taste the ones we could eat raw.
Her business is called Amazing Wild Edibles, and she also has a Facebook page by the same name, and she educates people about wild edible and medicinal plants. She also offers presentations and tours. Call my friend, Victoria, at 512-213-9454 or email her at embracingyourjoy@ gmail.com because you won’t find anyone more passionate about food and health.
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