HEALING GREENS: Local vets find solace in horticultural ther

The Enterprise of Brockton, Mass.
www.enterprisenews.com
By Maria Papadopoulos
Chris Pina bent down to quietly clip several yellow marigolds. Surrounding him were expansive patches of pumpkins, green pepper and tomato plants, and sunflowers.
The lush greenery is a far cry from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan for Pina, who served an eight-month tour of duty there.
Here, as his hands work the soil, as he picks ripening vegetables, Pina says he feels "calm" and finds solace.
"It's peaceful," said Pina, 24, of Brockton, who was earlier hospitalized for post traumatic stress disorder.
He is among local veterans taking part in a horticultural therapy program at the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Belmont Street in Brockton.
"It got me strong again," retired Air Force Sgt. Lee A. Pierce of Brockton said of the garden that has grown, for more than a decade, deep within the red-brick compound of administration buildings, behind Building 7.
This year's crop has been the most plentiful, veterans say.
There are flourishing string bean, zucchini, and cherry tomato plants, as well as orchards bearing Macintosh apples.
"I get a lot of satisfaction out of it," said Vietnam veteran Bob Freshour, 59, who lives at the VA Center and works in the garden every day. "I find it's interesting, all the plants and watching them grow."

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