Gardening workshops are part of a pilot program to provide veterans with agricultural vocational training and behavioral health care services.

A new opportunity at the VA Butler Health Care System offers veterans a chance to use their green thumbs.

Four free and hands-on educational gardening workshops are being offered for veterans this month, said Karen Dunn, health promotion and disease prevention program manager.

“It's great opportunity for veterans if they're even slightly interested,” Dunn said.

Week 1 kicks off 10 a.m. to noon July 11 outside the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center, 353 N. Duffy Road, with the lesson covering basic botany.

The workshops are just one portion of the project the health care system has planned, Dunn said.

In spring 2018, Congress directed the Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health to create a pilot program to provide veterans with agricultural vocation training and behavioral health care services and treatments from licensed providers. In response, the Veterans Affairs Farming and Recovery Mental Health Services pilot program was created.

The VA Butler Health Care System was one of 10 sites awarded funding to implement its proposed pilot programs, Dunn said.

A portion of the funding sent two veterans to the Pennsylvania State University Extension Master Gardener program, she said, adding those veterans will lead the workshops.

Workshop topics include soil health and fertilizer management, plant propagation and vegetable gardens.

Hands-on instruction is the best way to learn, Dunn said. One of the lessons participants will learn is how to garden in other ways, such as in buckets.

Part of the idea behind the program is to interest veterans in vocations in the subject because Butler County is rural, she said.

Another aspect is the therapeutic approach to care, Dunn said, adding for veterans who have mental health issues, such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder or anxiety, nature and gardening can prove therapeutic.

A portion of the project will also create a healing garden, an outdoor area for veterans, at the New Castle Road campus.

The garden's preliminary design includes a vegetable garden, a place to find and hide painted rocks, raised beds, water features, a walking path and walkways and it will be made Americans with Disabilities Act accessible. Also included are areas where veterans could sit, meet with friends, family and care providers and meditate.

Vocational rehabilitation for veterans, who may have a gap in their job resume, would allow them to work in the gardens as part of therapeutic and supportive employment services program, she said.

Classes, such as yoga and tai chi, could take place in the gardens to create a different feeling of relaxation and expand the whole health program, Dunn said, adding education could expand outside the box with new class ideas, such as cooking demonstrations with vegetables from the garden.

The yearlong project will start with the installation of a 24-foot-by-24-foot pergola. Once up, planters and planting will follow.

The location is ideal for access to the veterans who live in the community center and domicile at the New Castle Road campus.

“We are hoping those veterans just walk out there and enjoy the gardens whenever they like,” she said. “As it progresses, it'll be exciting to see what that big open field turns into.”

WHAT: Free gardening workshops for veterans hosted by the Butler VA Health Care SystemWHERE: Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center (outside), 353 N. Duffy RoadWHEN: All workshops will be 10 a.m. to noon.July 11 — Basic BotanyJuly 18 — Soil Health & Fertilizer ManagementJuly 25 — Plant PropagationAug. 1 — Vegetable GardenREGISTER: Call Karen Dunn at 878-271-6484 to register for these first-come, first-served workshopsNOTE:Veterans must register for each workshop before attending. Supplies will be provided for each workshop. Veterans will be able to take home what they work on.