Alternative Community Farmer/WPB.FL

Are you contemplating a healthy Body-Mind-Spirit  resolution for 2014.???
There are so many people who dream or plan but never DO Follow up on the
garden grounds . Off course you are NOT one of them .That is why this
article is catching your attention!Start the new year with a RESOLUTION
to take BACK your physical and mental Health by simply turning your
BACKYARD into a  PRODUCTIVE ORGANIC GARDEN.

Are you a procrastinator? Are you  harboring  such thoughts as  : I have no
Time to garden. I have no backyard . I have a backache . I am on Therapy.I
live in an apartment .I live in my car.I have no experience . I have a wife
and family.I am  old .I am  sick. I kill plants. I lost my job/house.I am
broke .I am on food stamps. I am ..you name it...
Guess what ?Food stamps federal budget has been reduced by almost  40
BILLION for the next ten years.. Wait a minute. Growing your own food can
be a Solution for your Physical and Mental challenges and struggles.
Gardening is a FREE THERAPY..! No Health Insurance payments and no
experience required! Here are two main major Physical and Mental  Effects:

 
A-The Physical (Body)  Benefits.

 Consider Growing an EDIBLE GARDEN in your backyard, at a community garden
and at your wellness /community center !! .

1-Growing your own food will enable you able to save your body and on  your
pocket .. Organic produce prices are  so expensive !Take this for example:
One pound of Organic  tomato costs $5 at your local Health Food
Store!!!.Your cost: FREE when grown in your own garden  !Your body will
live longer love to get nourishment of locally home grown food devoid of
pesticides and chemical fertilizers etc.. Besides:
If you grow one tomato plant at your garden , you will have an average of
40 pounds of tomato  produced at home, multiplied by 5$ per pound will
equal $200 in savings on your grocery bill!!!. Simply speaking,saving this
much on one food category only !Do the math for the rest of other organic
produce that you buy from the store which you can grow at home and witness
the difference??

2-You will lose weight and save on the gym bill money 100% on the  Gym
bill.You will  build   muscles and lose fat , while  growing and harvesting
FREE  fruits and veggies .. No garden experience necessary or membership
FEES required!
3-You will reduce your medical bills by 100% by taking food as medicine
from your garden , following the prescription of Hippocretes THE FATHER OF
MEDICINE. Grow food for FREE ,without additives , chemical fertilizers and
pesticides,the extra salmonella !! .When you do so:You will  add more years
to your life , spend more time at home with your family ,smell more roses
and aromatic herbs , breathe fresh outdoor garden air and enjoy
eating  SAFE food that is produced at home ,few yards away from your
kitchen compared to the 1500 miles distance when being shipped and grown
overstate /overseas!

B-The Metaphysical (Mind-Spirit) Benefits :

What is driving us CRAZY are the medical bills from the ER, for instance
one ER stitch cost $500!!!. Check out this article from NYT
:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/health/as-hospital-costs-soar-single-stitch-tops-500.html?_r=0
What is driving us crazy is  the culture of abusive behaviours that is
tainting our society as a side effect of our  work-oh-hloic and
drug-oh-holic and family of oh..holics  and other addictions :You name
it!!! .
As a consequence of the above "oh-holics" family  we suffer mentally  and
succumb to take a pill here and a pill there.. A pill a day will keep the
doctor in our way while an Apple from Mother Nature a day will keep the
doctor away .They say!!. Pun intended! In other words why not call on Doctor
"Nature" for a second opinion therapy . The Ancient Chinese ,Greeks and
Romans  reverted to find cures ,for both physical and Metaphysical , in
Nature: Example Water baths or Hydrotherapy , Homeopathy and  Naturopathy
.Why cant we do the same?
Through out history and civilizations , gardening was considered as a
THERAPY . Recently ,Japan and Sweden for example have innovated ways of
using  gardening as Horticultural Therapy at Hospitals and Rehabilitation Medical Centers
by simply creating Gardens for their patients to improve on their
health. . Check out the below sources and
resources for more
details.
Change your motto from "going bananas" in to "growing bananas" and see the
difference in your  Mental  and Physical HEALTH !!

The effects of Horticultural Therapy on the Brain :
http://wacong.org/icmed/23/1.pdf

http://greenheritagenews.com/horticultural-therapy-interview-with-deborah-denome/

Humbly speaking I did not coin the word Horticultural Therapy. Simply I
believed in it and started using it at my community gardens. It was back in
2008 , when "Garden  Therapy" made the headline news  at a local major
local  news paper :Sunsentinel interviewed me and I spoke my mind.. Hail
and THANKS to Sunsentinel exceptionally  inspiring writer / columnist De La
Cruiz ,who spent an almost day investigating my work following me around my
community garden and chasing me to the horse ranches  where my horse manure
came from etc..Garden Therapy made its way to the mainstream media .Check
it out:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2008-04-10/news/0804100053_1_community-gardens-soup-kitchen-two-plots.

Here are some more sources to check out:
  http://ahta.org/horticultural-therapy
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/02/17/147050691/can-gardening-help-troubled-minds-heal
*https://www.google.com/search?q=garden+therapy&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CjuiUsLsFcLekQemvYA4&ved=0CFoQ
< https://www.google.com/search?q=garden+therapy&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CjuiUsLsFcLekQemvYA4&ved=0CFoQ>*
*sAQ&biw=1920&bih=911&dpr=1*
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/gardening-therapy/#axzz2mjS100s4

 Happy Gardening...Therapy!!

 Tony Dagher  BA CFMG, CFMT

Why Green Awareness is a pre-requisite to Sustainable Living?

Let my Educational green  work   answer  and not simply my words!

Talk is cheap they say...But walking your talk or walking the walk is the real thing!

 Don't ask me about how many successes I had , but rather how many times I fell and failed and kept on trying to succeed .When there is a "Will , there is a Way" . Persistence, repetition, and endurance have their merits in EDUCATION!

Why Lake Worth to start with? It was there where m first Organic Gardening Workshop sponsored by CDC , took place at Chief Sitting Bull Organic Community garden back in 2003.

Also it was there where I fascilitated " Composting 101" at the Palm Beach State College at their Green expo 2011 and prior to that I offered a series of composting  workshop  for the City of Lake Worth  2010-2011.

Then came the third wave of classes in 2013,  I was invited to  the Lake Worth Public library last October  .Talking about library classes,  I want to mention the  series  of gardening workshops at the Mendell WPB public library.

The last library series Organic Gardening  workshop  was at  Boca Raton  .All of the above were FREE .Giving back to the community is the RIGHT THING to do ..and say" THANK YOU"  in action!!

Your  library ,church , synagogue , community center , wellness center ,hospital , school ,Yoga Center, and non -profit organization  is next. Simply send us a reply if you are interested or just mention to erase  your address  from our email list. Our classes and workshops are FREE for non-profit organizations.

The classes are ongoing and continue to be advertised at my web :localharvest.org/farms/M20618 or at the Natural Awakening Magazine PBC edition:" Mark Your Calender" section..

Many heart felt "Thanks You" to those who supported and sponsored my workshops  classes. They know who they are

I was fortunate enough , my workshop coincided time wise with  the efforts by the city of Lake Worth to put a control  lid on the FREE utilization of Chemical Fertilizers through  a "Fertilizer Friendly" ordinance,  in compliance with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection ..

As reported by the Lake Worth Herald (issue #42 October 17 ,2013,page 10):"Phosphorous and nitrogen ,the primary nutrients associated with the degradation of surface water ,are commonly  the primary components of fertilizers for turf and landscape application."

I believe in EDUCATING the public on Local Organic Gardening to raise the GREEN AWARENESS. We can change the world one local  garden at a time ,growing greens that replenish our air and soil and create a GREENER ENVIRONMENT for our children.

I have been Urban farming/gardening and fascilitating workshops since I graduated from UF Master Gardener Program back in 2001. I believe in LOCALLY GROWN  EDUCATION Tropical  Horticultural Education and Hands On Farming Experience in S. Florida are complementary and go hand in hand .

You need to learn "Farming and Gardening" the S. Florida Tropical way , from someone who lived,studied and worked the  S. Florida soil. Tropical farming is different but not difficult! The teacher will show up when the student is ready. Are you ready?

For presentations and classes :You may visit one of my gardens at YOU TUBE Tony Dagher Urban Gardener or contact me at : www,localharvest.org/farms/M20618

Let us work together for a GREENER and Healthier World .Thank you for supporting Local Green  Sustainability ,urban gardening  education included!!

 We take pride for having an  organic vegetable  garden now in existence at the White House ,we also remember our Founding Fathers Farmers Jefferson and Washington who inspire us always to grow our own food .

Wishing you ALL  : Merry Christmass ,  Happy New Year 2014 ,  Happy Hanokah,   Happy Gardening!