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<p>PLAINS TOWNSHIP &#8212;Maneuvering his motorized wheelchair along the sidewalk, John Doll pointed out the Swiss chard and basil, the eggplants and sunflowers, and the parsley and purple wax beans growing in easy-to-access raised beds.</p><p>He&#8217;s one of several residents of the Community Living Center at the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center who were pleased to decide what the &#8220;Victory Garden&#8221; would grow this year.</p><p>But Doll, 58, smiled with a special fondness for the cayenne peppers, because one of his choicest peppers brought home a blue ribbon from the 2014 Bloomsburg Fair.</p><p>&#8220;He selected the exact peppers and herbs he wanted to enter. We picked them and prepared them for travel,&#8221; said recreation therapist Marian Skomsky, who took Doll&#8217;s entries to the fairgrounds herself.</p><p>Even if you don&#8217;t happen to grow a prize-winning pepper, recreation therapy intern Sarah Davis said, she&#8217;s noticed the Victory Garden yields plenty of benefits for the veterans and their helpers &#8212; because it&#8217;s rewarding not only to watch things grow and blossom, but to work together.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a cooperative kind of thing,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They (the veterans) may not be able to do all of the work, but they have the wisdom.&#8221;</p><p>It was Doll&#8217;s suggestion to add magnesium-rich Epsom Salts to the soil, and that could be why the crops are growing so well.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a ripe tomato,&#8221; said volunteer gardener Lyn Brice of Wilkes-Barre, who knew last week the carrots weren&#8217;t yet ready to harvest, but several zucchini were.</p><p>As veteran Ferman Wesley, 84, held a giant zucchini Davis, the intern, predicted the gardening group had enough to make six or seven zucchini cakes.</p><p>A student at Slippery Rock University, Davis said she would be glad to bake the cakes. &#8220;Then we&#8217;ll serve them as a snack.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to the Victory Garden, the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center has a therapeutic sensory garden specifically designed for patients who have dementia. That garden, located in a courtyard, has vividly colorful flowers, pungent herbs, rocking chairs and a swing that can accommodate a wheelchair.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s designed to provide pleasant sensory stimulation and reminiscing,&#8221; said Skomsky, who estimated at least 70 percent of the residents visit or work in the garden areas.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Veteran Ferman Wesley, 84, left, examines tomato plants at the VA Medical Center &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; with Slippery Rock University recreational therapy intern Sarah Davis. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Veteran Ferman Wesley, 84, left, examines tomato plants at the VA Medical Center &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; with Slippery Rock University recreational therapy intern Sarah Davis. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Veteran John Doll, 58, looks over the VA Medical Center&#8217;s &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; that he helps maintain. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Veteran John Doll, 58, looks over the VA Medical Center&#8217;s &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; that he helps maintain. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Beds of pink impatiens and orange marigolds grow in the &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; at the VA Medical Center in Plains Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Beds of pink impatiens and orange marigolds grow in the &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; at the VA Medical Center in Plains Township. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Volunteer Lyn Brice of Wilkes-Barre harvests beans from the &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; at the VA Medical Center in Plains Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115veteransgarden_4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Volunteer Lyn Brice of Wilkes-Barre harvests beans from the &#8216;Victory Garden&#8217; at the VA Medical Center in Plains Township. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Veterans take pride in ‘Victory Garden’