Trellis Horticultural Therapy Alliance

At Trellishta.org this Memorial Day, we pause to honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Their sacrifice and courage will never be forgotten.🇱🇷🌿🇱🇷

At Trellis, we are honored to provide garden therapy for veterans on the journey of recovery from PTSD and mild brain injury. In the garden, veterans find more than plants they discover mindfulness, grounding, new learning, accomplishment, coping skills and the support that comes from coming together with others who share similar experiences and camaraderie.

Through connection, purpose, and community, we witness strength growing every day.

As we gather with loved ones this weekend, we remember and honor those who gave everything in service to our nation. 🇱🇷💕🇱🇷

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Straw bale gardening is a simple way to offer raised-bed gardening without having to purchase or build a raised bed structure. The process involves "curing" a bale of straw over several weeks to speed up the composting process by watering and fertilizing it. This process allows the straw to decompose slightly so that planting holes can be made in the top of the bale, The straw serves as a moist, nutrient-rich environment that requires only a tiny bit of soil in the planting hole. It saves space and your back!

We at Trellishta.org tried out this gardening method with our Gather & Grow group in April to see how this method could be used for a wheelchair user. Our inspiration came from the North Carolina Tomato Man, aka Craig LeHoullier, who wrote a book about the method (shown in photo above). Mr. LeHoulier's claim to fame is his book Epic Tomatoes. He is a hobby tomato breeder based in Hendersonville, NC, and shared some of his tomato seeds with Trellis for us to try. 🍅
We also used a companion planting approach in which flowers and herbs are planted alongside the tomatoes.

The flowers attract beneficial pollinating insects, the strong-scented herbs repel pests, and the tomatoes will provide much-needed shade in summer. 🍅🌿🌼

Check out the growth of those strawbales after six weeks!