A balanced pH level and good food improve health.

COUNTRYSIDE: Thank you for publishing COUNTRYSIDE. This is the only publication we subscribe to as we get more of the depressing current events than we really want to hear over the sound waves.

I especially want to thank you for "A zillion zucchini!" which appeared in the July/August 2004 issue because it gave me some new ideas for enjoying them. Thanks to you we are now down to half a zillion!

In the past I have read several articles in COUNTRYSIDE where homesteaders were fearful of being without medical insurance. Some were working jobs they disliked just to keep it and some had lost their jobs and therefore lost their medical insurance.

Our solution to this dilemma was to learn about alternative healthy lifestyles and become so healthy that illness was not a concern. Granted it is easier to do if one lives in the country but it can also be done in the city.

To do this one must first start by learning all that they can about healthy living and natural healing. Once one opens his eyes and starts searching you will find that the information is everywhere--on the web, in health food stores, books and publications. Even many grocery stores now stock some organic foods and healthy foods as well as quality supplements.

We were fortunate and found 20. lovely isolated acres in central Texas with a small stream that had not been farmed in many years, therefore, the land was clean and had not been poisoned with toxic chemicals. We wanted to keep it clean so we have never used commercial fertilizers or bug killers. We have learned that if bugs are a problem in the garden it is because the plants are diseased and/or stressed and the chemical fertilizers that are generally sold cause stress in the plants even though the plants may look healthy. By increasing the health of the soil by adding corn gluten meal, dry molasses and compost, to mention a few ways, bugs will not be a problem and the toxic chemicals will not have to be sprayed on the food that we are going to eat.

After we had a non-toxic, chemical-free place to live and food to eat we became aware that the major toxic chemicals we were being exposed to were on the inside of our home in the cleaning and personal care products we were using. After a long search I finally found a nice line of chemical free make-up on the web and a friend told us about a totally natural soap that also doubles as our toothpaste, shampoo, shower and bath soap, laundry soap and glass cleaner. It also has helped our bodies' pH by neutralizing the excess acid and bringing our acid/ alkaline balance back to a healthy 6.8 to 7. Maintaining proper acid/alkaline balance is essential for health, vitality and life whether it is in our body or in the soil.

We are in our late 60s and have had no medical insurance for many years and take no prescriptions, as we have no need for any of them even though Multiple Sclerosis showed up in my body over 40 years ago.

We are a work-in-progress and still have a lot to learn, however, we will be happy to share more of the details of our experiences with anyone who contacts us either by e-mail or, for those without e-mail, by phone. [e-mail]; 1-903-389-3230