The Giving Garden
Pearson Center Provides Cancer-Fighting Produce
By Shannon Brennan Photos by Ashlee Glen
Larry Vicks picked the first purple eggplant of the season and placed it on top of a basket of green and jalapeño peppers.
The basket was bound for the front desk at Centra’s Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center, where patients can select fresh vegetables to take home after treatments. The gardeners have given away more than 1,000 bags of produce to patients, offering a more holistic approach to healing.
“People can come out here and look at the garden, too,” Vicks said. “If you’re a patient, it’s nice to get a little calmness.”
A gazebo provides a shady spot, even on hot days, where patients can sit and smell the lavender in bloom and see ripening tomatoes. Patients can even look out the second-floor window while receiving treatments to view the colorful vegetables below.
Studies show that patients with views of plants and trees heal more quickly than those looking out on a sea of asphalt and concrete.
The garden is immediately behind Centra’s Healing Garden, which is also a quiet green space for contemplation that was created when the Pearson Cancer Center opened 10 years ago.
The vegetable garden got started three years ago at the suggestion of the Center’s founder, the late Alan B. Pearson. Lots of locals helped with the project, from its design with raised planting beds to the decisions about what to plant.
Linda Papadopoulos uses her 35 years of gardening experience, along with her knowledge as a registered dietitian, to find varieties that are high in anthocyanins, the pigments that give red, purple, and blue plants their rich coloring. In addition to acting as antioxidants and fighting free radicals, anthocyanins may offer anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer benefits. “We can use nutrition to keep us healthy and help us fight cancer,” she said.
Papadopoulos pointed to a variety of purple cherry tomatoes called indigo blueberries, which are especially rich in anthocyanins, though she admits they are not as tasty as other varieties. She is also researching the best types of carrots and eggplants.
“I am thrilled to have a program like this that I can be part of,” she said. “I don’t know any other cancer center that does this.”
Anita Lowe, community liaison at the Cancer Center, has taken on the garden as a favorite part of her job. “I didn’t know I was going to be out here gardening,” she said. “It’s addictive. … We have a lot of support from the community. That’s what you need to make a garden grow.”
A student from the University of Lynchburg, for example, created a detailed notebook outlining plans for what, where, and when to plant. Students from E.C. Glass and Liberty University have also helped with planting, mulching, and watering. The next project is to get an irrigation system in place.
Volunteers plant spring, summer, and fall crops to ensure fresh vegetables as much of the year as possible. The Center also receives supplemental vegetables from local farmers.
Carol Riggins, managing director of the Cancer Center, said Alan Pearson got the idea for the garden after spending a lot of time at the center observing the events offered, including nutrition talks and cooking demonstrations that highlight the importance of healthy eating during and after treatment. “If you’re going through cancer, nutrition is extremely important,” Riggins said. “We’re trying to show them how to walk the walk.”
Before creating the garden, the Cancer Center also sponsored a farmers market twice a year with the help of Conner Produce, Saunders Brothers, and others. Riggins soon realized fresh produce was very popular. “I could get the most ‘thank yous’ from those things,” she said.
While the produce elicits gratitude, Riggins said she thinks the tranquility and beauty of the garden is equally important. “Mr. Pearson knew that and definitely wanted this vegetable garden to happen,” she said. “We appreciate Mr. Pearson’s vision.”
Riggins also extends a huge thanks to the volunteers who keep the garden growing without adding a burden to Centra’s grounds staff.
Like all gardeners, the volunteers have to contend with finicky weather and wildlife that enjoys a tasty snack. In July, groundhogs or rabbits crawled under the deer fence and played havoc with the okra patch, eating nearly every leaf off the plants. To combat the critters, Vicks and Doug Pugh, another faithful volunteer, spread netting across the top of some of the plants to help them recover. Birds also like to pick at the strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes.
“I don’t like to see it get eaten up,” said Vicks, who started volunteering after his wife Berkey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She had been volunteering at the Cancer Center before her diagnosis and continues to volunteer to help others through difficult times. While Berkey greets patients inside, Larry is likely to be outside in a wide-brimmed hat. “It’s therapy for me because I like to see things grow,” he said.
Lowe calls the plants eaten by wildlife “sacrifice vegetables.” She notes that they grow the vegetables as organically as possible, and she even learned how to do soil samples. “It’s really for getting out there and forgetting your troubles,” Lowe said of the garden, and it’s worth the sweat when the patients return to say how much they enjoyed a tomato or bag of beets.
The garden is also an allegory for patients battling cancer. “As long as you have a garden, you have hope,” Lowe said.
The Sauce
This is the perfect breakfast! It’s packed full of macro- and micro-nutrients you may have a hard time getting without taking supplements. Everything is either frozen or dry from the pantry. And just like with the stir fry, the exact ingredients can be altered based on what you have available and your personal preference. It’s gluten- and corn-free and the milk can be substituted with Kombucha, coconut water or regular tap water.
7 ounces sunflower seeds, raw
Ever wondered what it’s like to trade in a routine life—filled with hectic daily schedules—for a life on the road having grand adventures with the ones you love? This is something many families only dream about—but for The Wanderpreneurs, that dream is now a reality.
“We researched different types of RVs to find the best fit for our family. We had lengthy conversations with our good friends, the Brewers, who we met in Lynchburg, that had been full-time RVers for several years,” Lauren says. “They were instrumental in giving us great advice and answering all our questions, giving us the confidence to continue moving forward.”
Plans are in the works to travel down the northeast coast this fall to see the foliage in Maine and Vermont. They also want to take their kids to New York City, plan to spend this winter in Florida and next summer in the Lake Michigan area. They say they would also love to spend an entire summer exploring Canada and an entire winter in Mexico at some point in the future.
The biggest challenge they have faced so far is figuring out how to properly balance work and play. Aaron builds websites, while Lauren blogs and creates content for an RV website, so while their schedules are flexible, they still have to be disciplined.
“I can’t even put into words how amazing the experience has been for us,” Lauren says. “It’s challenged us to re-evaluate our entire mindset in many aspects of life. Seeing how so many other families are living unconventional lives is inspiring. We have made numerous lifelong friends on the road—friends we’ve spent weeks at a time with, caravanning to new destinations together, exploring and hiking together and spending hours and hours around campfires with, getting to know each other on a real, raw, personal level.”
Until Carolyn Gills Frazier started researching Stanhope, Chronologically, published by Blackwell Press in 2018, even those who were closest to the late-architect Stanhope Johnson didn’t know the extent to which he had, almost literally, designed Lynchburg.
“Bibber and Stan were our names for them, but they were Elizabeth and Stanhope to the world,” Brothers said. “He called her Elizabeth; we called her Bibber. It was just our kids’ name and it stuck.”
Afterward, Garbee was approached by Mrs. Stanhope Johnson. “[She] came over to me and said, ‘Mr. Garbee, if I had any idea this would be such an excellent program, I would have insisted Stanhope come with me.’”
For fans of the I Spy children’s books—their pages packed full of colorful displays for young eyes to study and discover—Terry Foster’s historic Bedford home is a shrine to the popular ’90s series. “I love the idea of making your house so visually interesting,” Foster says. “It’s like a collage. You get to play around in every room.”
If you don’t feel the ’50s vibe from the pops of yellow, red, and blue in her other numerous kitchen collections (ice crushers, canisters, clocks… to name a few) just look down and the black and white checkered tile floor ties it all in. While Terry and her husband added this to the kitchen, it was already in place in other parts of the home including the downstairs hallway and foyer.
Terry’s eccentric spirit is just as strong in this room, in more subtle ways. A collection of vintage suitcases is stacked up to the ceiling against one wall. By the fireplace, a basket of hands (glove forms) makes you do a double take.
“I pinch myself sometimes, do I really get to live here?” Terry says. “This is so fun!”