TOMATO PLANTS IN THE BLOOM

MY GARDEN HELPERS MADE THESE HAPPEN!

Still blooming inspite of the odds ....

I love these peppers!

A Bountiful Harvest: during the good times.

It's been a long time .....

My dear readers and viewers:

It's been a long time since my last log: You will find some pictures of the vegetables I planted last. They are surviving inspite of the very "hot" weather. Unfortunately, a lot of "black widow spiders" had invaded my garden. The next few weeks, we will revamp it and plant anew. I will keep you posted of the new developments. ROGER

July 4, 2008

The 4th of July is a moment to remember not only for Americans but also for Filipinos. July 4th is called the Fil-Am Day in the history of the Philippines. From 1898 to the 1990's the Philippines was an ally of the USA. The two countries fought hand in hand during the Japanese-American War in the 1940's. In the 1900's the US formatted the Philippine's educational system from the USA. The country was ran under the tutelage of the American Government. That is why we have lots of main streets named after American Governors who led our country during those formative years. One of these streets is Taft Avenue in Pasay City, named after William H. Taft, a Governor back then. On July 4, 1946, America gave the Philippines its' independence. July 4th became the country's "Independence Day". During the latter years, the Philippine Government made amendments to its' laws and made June 12 as the Independence Day instead of July 4. June 12 was an original date of the country's independence, a date when the Philippines had ceased colonization from the Spaniards. For 400 years, our country was under the Spanish Government. Our Filipino heroes led by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo led the revolt against the Spaniards. Filipinos won over the Spaniards, thus our independence. At that time, the Americans had us through the "Treaty of Paris". The other countries included in that treaty were: Guam and Puerto Rico. To this day, Guam and Puerto Rico had remained colonies, the Philippines however, chose to become independent. July 4, 1946 was the date we were granted our independence.

My home country, the Philippines is a country to almost 80 million people. It is overpopulated knowing that its' size is close to the size of the State of Nevada, the state where I reside now. It is where I teach and cater to the needs of the school children living at Clark County School District. The county has over 300 schools serving at least 300,000 school children. I am priviledged to be one among 60,000 teachers and support staff in the district.

To Uncle Sam, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I LOVE YOU!!

YOU MAY WONDER WHAT THIS PLANT IS!

Japanese Eggplant

Some more plants blooming ....

ZUCCHINI FLOWER

Look at how much the garden has grown ....

This is the banana pepper in the making ....

LOOK AT THIS ONION FLOWER!!!

The plants are surviving .....

The vegetables we planted when we started gardening are surviving. We have harvested tomatoes. They taste much better than the supermarket equivalent.The strawberries were able to produce a significant amount of fruit.They were so sweet. The size of the fruits though were not as big as we were expecting. The eggplants came out very healthy. We are still waiting until such time they bear the fruits.

The whole team had great fun taking care and tending this vegetable garden. It has been a great pleasure for all of us. It's a good feeling to fill a bin with tiny seedlings and seeds, all holding the promise of a bountiful harvest when the right time comes.

BEAUTIFUL RED CHERRY TOMATOES

RED RIPE CHERRY TOMATOES

LOOK AT THE GARDEN NOW

THE VEGETABLES ARE FAST GROWING. TOUCHED BY GREEN THUMBS, THE PLANTS HAVE STARTED TO BLOSSOM AND SOON WE WILL BE ABLE TO PICK SOME PRODUCE. WHO DO YOU THINK WILL GET THE FIRST BITE OF A CUCUMBER?

YES! I'VE MADE A GARDEN IN THE DESERT!

yes

MANY HANDS AT WORK

DAN LOVES FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!

HEY ROGER --WHEN ARE THE TOMATOES READY---I'M HUNGRY FOR FRIED GHREEN TOMATOES!!!!

DAN LOVES FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!

Baby Green Bell Pepper

I am not ready to be picked yet, but you can admire my birth into our special garden.As you can see, the hand that touches me is welcomed to my life as a green bell pepper.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Everyone kids me about making fried green tomatoes. We will do that soon as an ADL kitchen task. All of us look forward to fried green tomatoes!! Recipe is: dip sliced green tomato slices in flour and cayene pepper, then milk and egg wash, then dip slices in crushed saltine crackers and fry in light oil until golden brown.
yum...yum..yum...

My Special Water Lady

Every morning, Helen asks me if she can water our garden. She loves to sing and recite poems with me as she does so. Helen has a word-finding deficit and I challenge her while she works in the garden. She has also upper-extremity neglect as well as lower-extremity neglect. She does not let these problems stand in her way. She is positive about her many abilities. Helen is one of most cheerful and positive people I have ever had the privilege to work with. "Thank you, Helen!" for watering our garden!

From all of us: Life Care Center of Paradise Valley

Let me give you a little background about me!

My name is Roger Douglas. I am a COTA working for Life Care Center. I am fairly "new" to the "Therapy World". You see, I am 55 now and started my Occupational Therapy Education late in life around 45. I finished school and worked one year in a SNF. My wife came down with "Lou Gehrig's Disease"(ALS) so I stopped working to take care of her full time. (My OT schooling came in very helpful.) We sold our home and spent a couple of years travelling ... the whole USA and ocean cruises. When she died I continued to attend support group meetings for ALS. I met a pretty lady named Kathy who was terminal with ALS. I started helping her out and taking her places. After a brief courtship with her, I asked her if she would marry me. She said "yes", so we had a beautiful marriage in a Mormon Church (she was a LDS). I asked Kathy what she wanted to do before she died, and she replied, " I want to go camping on the ocean". I took her from the coast of California all the way to Canada in a TENT! She was nearly totally paralyzed by this time but enjoyed every minute of the "adventure". Kathy died shortly after our trip. If you would like to see pictures of our trip you can email me at rogerdouglas444@hotmail.com or through this site.

I would like to add that Life Care Center of Paradise Valley is a great place to work. Here people are sincere, honest, hardworking and compassionate. We do "whatever it takes" to be the very best for resident care!

Hats off to all of you!

From: Roger, OT

Gardening 1-2-3

Yesterday, March 20, I bought a book entitled, " Gardening 1-2-3 " by The Home Depot. I did not know that "keeping a garden record" is an important element in gardening. The book suggested the following: Keeping receipts helps one on garden spending. Also, in case of returns (plants, tools, etc.) garden centers would normally ask for them.Bloom Times: Keep a list of your plants and their bloom times. Plant Labels: Keeping plant labels will jog your memory. The labels in the plants you buy can stay in it, or you may do your own labelling. Gardening Reminders: Keep the professional garden plan handy and keep track of your garden record. Magazine Articles and Notes: Organize clippings coming from magazines, journals, and newspapers related to gardening. Fun Stuff: Garden record-keeping can be enjoyable. Have fun tucking in photos of your most beautiful results.

Having Fun?

Last Sunday, March 16,2008, I chose to work. I worked with several of my patients prepare and build the soil. A healthy soil is the cornerstone of organic farming and gardening. Healthy soil supports good plants. I was lucky enough to receive several bags of premium soil from one of the resident's son. Thank you very much!

The ladies started to transfer the soil to its beds. Afterwards, they planted their choice of plants. They now own the plants, so they will have to take care of them individually.

I am so excited to see my tomato plant bear fruits

Hello everyone:

I am very excited about my tomato plant. Thanks to Roger, he is giving us opportunities to do what we love to do. I have loved gardening since I was a young woman. Now, that I am in my post golden years, I would want to experience it once again: feel the wind outdoors while tending the plant, touch the loving earth where my plant lies, smell the aroma of the young leaves, and hopefully feel and see the fruits it produces.

I am very pleased this gardening is giving me a better outlook about my post-golden years. Just like the tomato plant, I have to continue living.

From: Linda, Life Center of Paradise Valley
Las Vegas, NV

OVERVIEW

This blog was created to journal the day-to-day activities of my elderly patients at the Life Center of Paradise Valley in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

I started my latest program for these patients to help them enhance their lives. The program aims to engage each one in an activity that will make them feel worthwhile inspite of their physical, mental. emotional, spiritual shortcomings and disabilities. I pray and hope that by engaging in gardening activites their lives will become more cheerful, gay, joyous, contented, and meaningful.

The next few days will bring you their pictures while at work in the garden, and what they have to say about themselves while engaging in those tasks.

Roger