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(If your subscription is current, click here to Login or Register.)2010 - Volume #34, Issue #5, Page #24
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Injured Mideast War Vets Heal At Florida Berry Farm
Veterans Farm near Jacksonville, Fla., offers a type of therapy to injured or recovering military personnel that farmers and people who live in rural areas understand. Rather than a couch in a psychiatrist's office, there are two lawn chairs under a shady oak. And instead of a physical therapy workroo..........
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Injured Mideast War Vets Heal At Florida Berry Farm AG WORLD Ag World Veterans Farm near Jacksonville Fla offers a type of therapy to injured or recovering military personnel that farmers and people who live in rural areas understand
Rather than a couch in a psychiatrist s office there are two lawn chairs under a shady oak And instead of a physical therapy workroom there are fruit bushes and garden plots to tend to
Adam Burke grew up on a blueberry farm His plan was to be the first Burke not to follow that path That changed in 2004 after he was wounded by shrapnel in Iraq He came home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury TBI Despite treatment by the VA he didn t feel he could handle a normal job He realized he needed something he was passionate about so he fell back into farming
It s in your blood It s a sustainable way of life you don t burn out from it Burke says He recalled the promise he d made when he was wounded that if he survived he would spend his life serving others He decided to put the two ideas together and try to help other wounded vets recover in a rural setting
Burke started contacting people and his first break came from a Minnesota woman named Joy Westenberg from Project Evergreen She helped Adam recruit local farmers With his own money volunteers and donations he set up his first blueberry farm in Central Florida in 2009 where six veterans now raise and sell blueberries
I see noticeable changes in the men right away he says I see light in their eyes and smiles on their faces I also see physical changes and I wanted to do it on a larger scale
Jacksonville Fla has a large military presence and no VA hospital so he set up his farm near there He found support through Work Vessels for Veterans which provides business equipment such as fishing boats and tractors to veterans Once they became Burke s fiscal sponsor he started raising money to buy land
The Veterans Farm has 8 acres and will serve 20 to 25 post-911 veterans at a time About the same number of volunteers ų including Vietnam veterans ų help out Everyone at the farm ų including Burke ų is 100 percent volunteer so all donations and profits go into the farm
We choose not to have the finer things in life so that we can help more vets Burkes says noting that he and his wife live frugally off her salary
The Mission Continues an organization that promotes veteran rehabilitation programs was so impressed with Burke s farm that they offered to support it with fellowships for an average of 14 weeks Veterans who are part of the program and working on the farm receive monthly stipends for housing That has allowed veterans from as far away as Indiana and California to participate As part of the program volunteer professionals ų therapists entomologists and blueberry specialists ų offer classes The goal is to teach participants so they can go on to start their own horticultural operations if desired
Burke wants to make his Veterans Farm sustainable and grow to serve more people The operation has attracted interest regarding its growing methods Water-saving techniques are used and blueberry bushes are planted in 30-gal containers so that people in wheelchairs can work on them Burke hopes to add handicap accessible golf carts in the future He also wants to set up an acre of land under high tunnels to extend the season Besides blueberries Veterans Farm grows blackberries and organic vegetables
There is a good market here especially with us growing them organically Burke says We sell through commercial buyers and farmers markets
The veterans are challenged to do everything from working in the field to selling and marketing ų which can be stressful for people with brain injuries
As the Veterans Farm works toward self-sufficiency Burke says he welcomes all kinds of support from service digging a well to equipment high tunnels 30-gal pots tractors pvc pipe for irrigation golf carts and cash
Eventually Burke would love to have housing for the participants as it s difficult to find reasonably priced housing in the area
The longer he works at the farm the more burke realizes the power of farm work to heal Picking berries improves dexterity which can be an issue with some disabilities In general the work helps recovering vets get into better overall shape
And then there s that oak tree with the chairs Some veterans who are paralyzed enjoy hanging out there and joking with the working veterans For others it s the perfect place to talk work through issues and dream about the future -- better than any therapist s office
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Adam Burke Veterans Farm 9174 Thunderbolt Dr Jacksonville Fla 32221 ph 352 217-1662; veteransfarm@yahoo com; www veteransfarm com
Rather than a couch in a psychiatrist s office there are two lawn chairs under a shady oak And instead of a physical therapy workroom there are fruit bushes and garden plots to tend to
Adam Burke grew up on a blueberry farm His plan was to be the first Burke not to follow that path That changed in 2004 after he was wounded by shrapnel in Iraq He came home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury TBI Despite treatment by the VA he didn t feel he could handle a normal job He realized he needed something he was passionate about so he fell back into farming
It s in your blood It s a sustainable way of life you don t burn out from it Burke says He recalled the promise he d made when he was wounded that if he survived he would spend his life serving others He decided to put the two ideas together and try to help other wounded vets recover in a rural setting
Burke started contacting people and his first break came from a Minnesota woman named Joy Westenberg from Project Evergreen She helped Adam recruit local farmers With his own money volunteers and donations he set up his first blueberry farm in Central Florida in 2009 where six veterans now raise and sell blueberries
I see noticeable changes in the men right away he says I see light in their eyes and smiles on their faces I also see physical changes and I wanted to do it on a larger scale
Jacksonville Fla has a large military presence and no VA hospital so he set up his farm near there He found support through Work Vessels for Veterans which provides business equipment such as fishing boats and tractors to veterans Once they became Burke s fiscal sponsor he started raising money to buy land
The Veterans Farm has 8 acres and will serve 20 to 25 post-911 veterans at a time About the same number of volunteers ų including Vietnam veterans ų help out Everyone at the farm ų including Burke ų is 100 percent volunteer so all donations and profits go into the farm
We choose not to have the finer things in life so that we can help more vets Burkes says noting that he and his wife live frugally off her salary
The Mission Continues an organization that promotes veteran rehabilitation programs was so impressed with Burke s farm that they offered to support it with fellowships for an average of 14 weeks Veterans who are part of the program and working on the farm receive monthly stipends for housing That has allowed veterans from as far away as Indiana and California to participate As part of the program volunteer professionals ų therapists entomologists and blueberry specialists ų offer classes The goal is to teach participants so they can go on to start their own horticultural operations if desired
Burke wants to make his Veterans Farm sustainable and grow to serve more people The operation has attracted interest regarding its growing methods Water-saving techniques are used and blueberry bushes are planted in 30-gal containers so that people in wheelchairs can work on them Burke hopes to add handicap accessible golf carts in the future He also wants to set up an acre of land under high tunnels to extend the season Besides blueberries Veterans Farm grows blackberries and organic vegetables
There is a good market here especially with us growing them organically Burke says We sell through commercial buyers and farmers markets
The veterans are challenged to do everything from working in the field to selling and marketing ų which can be stressful for people with brain injuries
As the Veterans Farm works toward self-sufficiency Burke says he welcomes all kinds of support from service digging a well to equipment high tunnels 30-gal pots tractors pvc pipe for irrigation golf carts and cash
Eventually Burke would love to have housing for the participants as it s difficult to find reasonably priced housing in the area
The longer he works at the farm the more burke realizes the power of farm work to heal Picking berries improves dexterity which can be an issue with some disabilities In general the work helps recovering vets get into better overall shape
And then there s that oak tree with the chairs Some veterans who are paralyzed enjoy hanging out there and joking with the working veterans For others it s the perfect place to talk work through issues and dream about the future -- better than any therapist s office
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Adam Burke Veterans Farm 9174 Thunderbolt Dr Jacksonville Fla 32221 ph 352 217-1662; veteransfarm@yahoo com; www veteransfarm com
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