Louie B. Edwards dusts off a can of his homemade jelly. He lives alone in a mobile home eight miles outside of Plains, Montana. He harvests his own fruit from his garden and cans jams and jellies.
"You're never too old to learn I say," says Louie as he walks around his garden. Edwards attributes his love of gardening to his grandparents who raised him to be a provider for his family.
"I checked myself once," says Louie, "it takes me six minutes to mix all my cereal together." Edwards mixes six different kinds of cereal together for his morning breakfast and usually adds sugar, honey and sometimes even jelly.
His garden consists of vegetables and fruits such as corn, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes and peas. Eight gallons of raspberries were harvested in one season, which Edwards used to make jelly.
"Eighty percent of my food comes from what I grow or harvest from the wild," says Louie in regards to his food consumption. He recalls never going hungry during The Depression due to his grandparent's ability to grow their own food in times of economic distress.
Louie peers into one of his three deep freezers. He says he can survive off of his garden all year long by freezing the fruits and vegetables.
Louie points out a photograph of his late wife Dorothy who passed away from a heart attack in 1992. "She was my true inspiration." They were married for 42 years and never spent a night apart on account of an argument, says Edwards.
"Amen, Amen," sings Louie B. Edwards as he and his Bible group hold hands in prayer. The group meets once a week for dinner, bible study and story telling and have been meeting since 1991.
Louie listens to a sermon at The Plains Alliance Church Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010. Edwards was 'saved' in Japan while serving in the Air Force and has considered himself Christian ever since.
Louie packs his suitcase preparing for his two thousand mile drive to Arkansas to visit relatives and hunt. He drives by himself across the country in three days and two night.
