Accident victim relearns skills by tending to plants' soil
Growing his mind
By Sandy Hodson| Staff Writer
Friday, June 12, 2009

Patrick Bassaloff is proof that gardening is good for what ails you. In his case, it is a traumatic brain injury.

Mr. Bassaloff, 46, is one of the residents at Walton West Transitional Living Center who use gardening as therapy. He explained that the caring and nurturing of plants is helping him relearn tasks that the injury prevented him from accomplishing.

"With a traumatic brain injury, all your thinking has to be relearned," said Mr. Bassaloff, who cracked his skull when he fell from the top of a tractor-trailer on March 12. The blow knocked out his short-term memory.

"It's hard for people to understand, because you can't see it," he said. He described it as waking up with a nasty hangover every day .

Through gardening, he's increasing a number of life skills, including memorization and motor skills, while having fun.

Mr. Bassaloff and other residents tend to a variety of plants in a greenhouse. Some of their plants are sold at the Walton Rehabilitation Hospital and at the Sacred Heart Garden Festival.

Mr. Bassaloff's favorite greenhouse plant is coleus, but the real pride and joy for him, the other residents and staff is the vegetable garden beside the greenhouse.

Jennifer Litchfield, Walton West's director, said the vegetables were started indoors in February from seed. They planted the seedlings in the garden when the temperature warmed. They've had zucchini a dozen different ways and are still thrilled to find new zucchini to harvest, she said.

"The staff is just as happy as we are," Mr. Bassaloff said.

IN THE GARDEN

In the Garden is a roundup of gardening events and other growing concerns. Send items to Sandy Hodson at sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com, or post to the Garden Gnome at blogs.augusta.com.

DAY LILY SHOW AND SALE: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday , H2U Building, 1305 Interstate Parkway (behind Doctors Hospital); free; garden tour Sunda y; tour stops are: the Shaw Garden, 2541 Lumpkin Road; John Kirkland's Archway Gardens, 178 Springlakes Court; and Aubrey and Frankye Crawford's garden, 1579 Appling-Harlem Road, Appling

Join the gardening conversation with the Garden Gnome at blogs.augusta.com.

From the Friday, June 12, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
Reader Comments
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Augusta Chronicle. Please read our full comments policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the icon.
Your display name is (change display name)
YOUR MESSAGE:
You have 1200 characters left.


advertisement

advertisement

TopJobs


Augusta-area Top Jobs
Construction Labor Local county looking for HEAVY EQUIPMENT >OPERATORS< $-15 | hr + Full Benefits Operate different types of heavy equipment. PERM Call (706)868-6800 J#s 3253,3255, & 284 Full Time P... (more)
Dock Work FREIGHT HANDLER Call 706.868.6800 Operate forklift, pallet jack, secure freight inside trailers. >$10.50-12.50hr < PERMANENT POSITION w | this Great Nationwide Co. Pro Resources $... (more)
CNA | Caregiver needed for home care. Must have following credentials: CPR, 1st Aid, & TB test. Please call (877) 227-3402 or fax resume and credentials to (877) 279-2131. Please include cover sheet w... (more)


© 2009 The Augusta Chronicle|Terms of service|About our ads|Help|Contact us|Subscribe|Local business listings


shopping & services

What:
Where:



advertisement