Posted July 18, 2011
Disabled veteran Mike Steward said he considered ending his life.
It was three years ago. He had health problems, his marriage was failing and he was stressed about money.
As Steward tells the story, he was in his Forest Acres backyard, and his tomato plant caught his eye. The plant was withered and dying — a symbol of his life, he thought.
“Then the rain came.”
And so flourished the idea to convert an unproductive plot of land at Fort Jackson into a gathering spot for disabled veterans who water and nurture, harvest and share.
Steward, 48, who has a spinal-cord injury, said gardening gives him a sense of accomplishment.
“Plus it’s very healthy,” he said. “I’ve lost a lot of weight, eating fruits and vegetables.”
The garden has five raised beds, built waist-high. It is crisscrossed by cement paths, wide enough for wheelchairs. And on scheduled work days, it hums with volunteers mowing, weeding and sweating. The garden has a hired hand, Larry McDuffie, but volunteers are critical to the project.
Steward said as many as 15 veterans share the space and the labor. It’s one of 38 fenced areas that make up Fort Jackson’s Victory Garden.
The entire area was given over to gardening about 40 years ago, manager Valerie Kinsley said. It looks to be about four acres, edged by a creek providing irrigation for the growing fruits and vegetables. Fences chart ownership and deter deer.
Six people — retirees and active-duty soldiers alike — remain on a waiting list, even after Kinsley divided some of the plots in two last year.
Steward first mentioned his garden idea to Dwight Blue, a veteran in charge of special projects for soldiers on the base.
Blue took the project to the company commander for the 165th brigade, which has adopted the garden as its community project. The group got grants from local businesses for materials and put up about $6,000, too.
Some donations are used to pay the transportation costs that get some disabled veterans from their homes to the garden and back.
“Morale is so high,” Blue said. “They’re in the sun. They’re in the cold weather. They’re just there all the time, stopping by.”
Like many gardeners, Steward keeps coming up with ideas for improvements. A koi pond is in the works. He envisions an air-conditioned gazebo.
A board member of the Southeastern Paralyzed Veterans of America, Steward would like to establish a garden club for disabled gardeners, including those who never served in the military.
Company commander Capt. Jason Parker said he just wants to support the veterans.
“It’s one generation helping another generation,” he said. “I know a lot of times they think they’re forgotten.”
As for Steward, he said gardening is therapy. “When you become paralyzed, you think suicidal thoughts,” he said, “and this has saved my life.”
Reach Hinshaw at (803) 771-8641.
To see more of The State, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thestate.com.
Copyright © 2011, The State, Columbia, S.C.