“Our good friend John Mashie at Veterans Healing Farm asked for help designing their new Community Center – a 40′ and 20′ shipping container organized around a large deck and gathering space. The 40′ container is a bunkhouse and the 20′ is the kitchen. John’s vision for VHF is as big as his heart – and it’s BIG.”

I checked out Veterans Healing Farm. WOW! Congratulations.  They are doing good work.  INSPIRATIONAL.

Megan Landreth, a U.S. Air Force service member who since being hired as VHF’s farm administrator at the start of the year, is able to help fellow veterans heal in an environment that encourages wellness. According to Landreth:

“VHF founders Nicole and John Mahshie launched the nonprofit in 2013 on their family’s land in rural Hendersonville. A fellow Air Force veteran, John excelled as a ground equipment mechanic and rose to the rank of senior airman E-4 as a member of the Honor Guard. But after leaving the military, the lack of structure left him feeling isolated. One of the most beneficial avenues that helped Mahshie heal was working in the ground, which prompted him to research agritherapy and how it could be used to aid other veterans as well as allies. By being outside and working with the land alongside people who understand what veterans have been through, the VHF community experiences the therapeutic benefits of eating organic vegetables, absorbing vitamin D from being in the sun, partaking in physical exercise and being enveloped by the beauty of nature.”

Volunteers are appreciated and VHF puts out calls for help on harvest days, including a recent one when the year’s lettuce, kale, broccoli and collards crops were picked and donated to those in need.

Agritherapy is not the only offering at VHF. Summer classes on beekeeping, art, self-defense, fermentation, canning and more are planned.  The goal is to provide the VHF community with an array of outlets for healing and/or skill development and restore previous workshops after a “covid-detour”.