This article, Veteran Soldiers Become Novice Farmers, will reach many thousands of readers who are loyal to the Rodale group, which has published OGM for over 50 years.

Adam talked about farming in a way that only a farmer could – what the dirt smelled like, what the birds sounded like, how he liked the way the humidity felt, and how his mind got to relax when he sat on a tractor.

A farmer’s season starts long before the first seed is planted and Adam knew that. Standing outside his trailer, steadying his balance with his cane, he had already begun farming. Five thousand miles away and without a dime, Adam had been planning and constructing every detail of his farm – his plants, the soil mix, the containers, the irrigation system, how the berries would be grown and harvested and sold.

Adam’s body had taken a beating in Iraq but his spirit was strong and he knew he had something that he could focus on and that the hard physical and mental work he needed to farm was going to heal him.

The Farmer-Veteran Coalition was honored to help buy Adam his first plants, pots and potting mix. Our friend Deborah Beebe popped up with the name “Red, White and Blueberry.” As Adam wrote this morning, “The soil is fertile in Florida; FVC planted a seed and now is watching it rapidly grow.” We urge all the public support for Adam’s farm possible.

– Michael O’Gorman, FVC Founder and Project Director

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Farming Project Invites Veterans to Work and Learn

Jacksonville, FL April 23, 2010

Former Army Sergeant Adam Burke, founder and director of Veterans Farm, wants to provide paying work and horticulture therapy for fellow disabled veterans. Last year, Adam and his wife Michele began raising and marketing “Red, White and Blueberries” in central Florida with support from the Farmer Veteran Coalition (www.farmvetco.org), which specializes in helping veterans find livelihoods in the food and farming sector.

This year money raised by Work Vessels for Veterans (www.workvesselsforveterans.org) has enabled Adam to secure 8 acres of land outside of Jacksonville where he plans to expand Veterans Farm to include other berries and organic vegetables while providing more job opportunities for disabled veterans. WVFV serves as Veterans Farm’s non-profit fiscal sponsor.

“Horticulture therapy by way of the blueberry farm helped my recovery so much that I thought it would only be greedy not to share it with others who have suffered so much,” Adam said. “It was nice to have other disabled veterans out there. We stick together and work as a team.”

Adam grew up on a family farm in Central Florida. The first member of his family to not go directly into farming, he joined the US Army instead, serving from 1995-2004. He served in Iraq with Operation Iraqi Freedom from December 2002 until March of 2004, when mortar fire near Balad gave him his second and most serious injury, earning him the Purple Heart.

Adam relates, “When I returned home I found it difficult going through the VA to get help for my TBI and PTSD. The psychologist and psychiatrist kept telling me that I needed to find a way to relieve stress. One of the best things I remember from my childhood was growing up on a farm. I remembered being in the outdoors and enjoying working with others. I remember the sound of the birds and the mist from the sprinklers, the wind and the calming effect it had on me.”

Adam says that his next step in developing Veterans Farm on its new land is to raise money to purchase the blueberry bushes and pine bark so that he can accept his first group of disabled veterans to train and operate the farm. He is also seeking donations of equipment to help complete the project. He plans to make his farm fully self-sustaining.

Adam Burke can be contacted via his website (www.veteransfarm.com) or email (veteransfarm@yahoo.com) or telephone (352-217-1662).

All donations for Veterans Farm through WVFV are tax deductible will go directly to helping disabled veterans and their recovery.

Release by the Farmer-Veteran Coalition Media Project, funded by Lewis Black

All,

Here are a few pictures of today’s amazing event in Inglewood, California. I and three young vets helped put in a school garden in a poor part of Los Angeles as the first of 1000 schools that Kelly Meyer, wife of Universal Studios President, Ron Meyer, is spearheading. Yesterday my son, Greg, my daughter-in-law Rachael, my grand-kids and two other vets spent a long day filling the beds with soil. One of the vets, John McLaughilin, 27 year-old Army Vet and Purple Heart grew up on a 1200 acre farm outside of Merced. Jose Soto went to Iraq at the age of 17, saw some of the worst battles and lost a lot of friends.

Today we planted the gardens with 700 kids. In the afternoon there was a star-studded assembly.

The first picture is Jose, me and Tobey Maguire, who talked about being a vegan.

The second picture is Kelly introducing me to speak.

The third is John, Gabby Reece (beach volley ball star), me, Derek Fisher from the LA Lakers, Peggy from Growing Great (a project that supports school gardens) and Tobey.

The last one is my son planting with a group of kids.

It was a great day, to put it mildly.

The school is 60% Hispanic, 38% African American and 2% other. I asked the kids how many had family or friends that went to Iraq or Afghanistan and somewhere between one third and one half raised their hands.

After the assembly one teacher brought up an eight year old Hispanic boy that was fighting back his tears. She said he was sad because his Dad was getting sent to Iraq. She asked him if he wanted to meet any of the celebrities. He said no, he wanted to meet my son. Greg knelt down in front of him and held his hands. “Your Dad will have lots of friends that will look after him for you”, he said. “Make sure you write him and send him lots of pictures.” An emotional scene for me at the end of a long two days.

(Click image to enlarge)

Addenda:

Access Hollywood covered the event (because there were celebrities involved, obviously) but gave it good publicity. And participant Gabby Reece described the event in her blog.

The event was open for free admission, with good food and drink to enjoy while the speakers spoke and during the social times before and after. Here are some photos from the event:

A down-home venue in a beautiful location, Pt. Reyes Station.

Helge Hellburg, of the main sponsor Marin Organic, welcomes the audience.

Michael O'Gorman, Project Director of FVC, tells its history.

Wendy Johnson, Master Gardener of the Green Gulch Zen Center, prepares to pass around the bell to honor all veterans.

Amy Fairweather, Director of Swords to Plowshares and the Iraq Veteran Project expresses her appreciation of FVC's mission..

Mary Tillman, Gold Star Mother and author speaks in support of FVC.

Veteran and small scale vegetable farmer Matt McCue describes the unforgiving discipline of growing winter squash.

Jeremy Lopez expresses his gratitude to his vineyard mentor Joe Judge.

Wendy Johnson closes the meeting with a story about a pomegranate and its inspirational meaning to a soldier in combat.

At their first meetings, they attracted not only interested growers, but three women who had lost sons in Iraq or Afghanistan. One of the women was Mary Tillman, the mother of Pat Tillman, who left a lucrative career as an NFL player to join the Army after 9/11. The women thought the Farmer-Veteran Coalition might help veterans who faced combat deal with their experiences, says O’Gorman, providing a place for healing.

“A lot of guys who’ve been in war talk about the psychological aspects of farming, about working with something that’s alive and positive,” he says. “A lot of people find that after the war experience there is something therapeutic in farming.”

And here’s the accompanying slide show.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat published an article titled “Farming helps veterans ease back into civilian life.”

The San Francisco Chronicle then published an article titled “Food Conscious: Farmers Recruit Combat Veterans.”

The text of these articles can also be found here on this site.