alafarmnews

Rob McHugh’s organic gardening may be saving his life

Five different doctors gave Rob McHugh the same woeful diagnosis five years ago —- they insisted he would never get better; he has ALS, a progressive neurodegen-erative disease that would continue to sap the strength from his muscles.

Rob, then 29, left that first doctor’s office shaken. That doctor, family and friends led him to four physicians who specialized in ALS treatment and the prognosis was the same.

"They all said they wouldn’t ‘overrule’ what the other doctors said," Rob explained now.

ALS—Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease,

Rob McHugh explained his operation lost more than $11,000 in greenhouse plants last summer when their well went dry during the drought. More rain barrels will hopefully help that situation this year.

A St. Clair County grower, Rob gets pots ready for a multitude of vegetable types on his Certified Organic Farm.

But Rob decided to do his own research on the Internet and through magazines. An article in ACRES USA, described how an unusually high number of farmers were diagnosed with ALS because of some sorts of chemical exposures.

Rob also visited Rhonda Dial, an herbal specialist based in the Alabaster area, who is featured weekly on ABC 33-40 noon newscasts and has also hosted a radio show. In addition to herbs and other supplements, Rhonda bases her advice on simple "good nutrition and sound dietary practices."

"We’ve always eaten what we grow locally," Rob explains, noting he and wife Angie always can and freeze a great deal of fresh produce grown by their family and other local farmers.

But Rob’s physical ailments gave him a new incentive to search for more information on growing vegetables completely organically.

The results have been that Rob’s physical ailments have not progressed and some of the muscle damage he had has been reversed.

"We’re always eating a lot of fresh vegetables, but now we don’t eat out as much and I also eat a lot of raw vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, those kinds of things," Rob explained.

And those healthful results also include Rob’s greenhouse operation, Gulf Creek Farm, which was certified as organic last year Rob, at that time, was only the fourth farmer in Alabama to reach that certification.

Rob said his father, an agriculture teacher in the St. Clair County school system, and others in the family who have farmed for years, at first didn’t feel organics would go well in this area.

But not only have they grown well, Rob sells 90% of what he grows to the Whole Foods Supermarket Chain and sells numerous organically grown plants and many of the resulting vegetables direct from his farm.

Rob said he was told at first the certification process could take up to three years. But Rob submitted the 36 pages of documentation which were followed by an on-site visit from the Quality Certification Service and his farm was certified within two months of his original application!

"There were several things they looked at, such as buffers around the fields, those kind of things," Rob explained.

Rob, four or five years ago, bought greenhouses practically next door to his home on U.S. Highway 11 in Steele from Martha and Harold England, who had operated them for about 20 years after moving here from England.

He has two acres he plants in vegetables near the greenhouses and an additional seven acres he plants atop Chandler Mountain. This year those seven acres will be planted completely in cherry tomatoes for the Whole Foods Supermarkets.

Much of the acreage’s "fertilizer" comes from "chicken tractors," portable chicken enclosures on skids which Rob moves to various sites with his tractor. The hens free range during the day then return to the safety of their portable coops at night.

Rob McHugh mixes specialized potting soil with compost made of fish emulsion, worm castings and more.

"I learned about free range chickens from Teddy Gentry and his Bent Tree Farm," Rob explained. "I hope by the end of the year to have about 1,000 free range chickens. We’ll sell the eggs by then too."

Worm castings from a worm bed at his home are also added to the soil at the greenhouses (there are now five, totaling 11,000 square feet) and special fertilizer developed by Frank McKenna, who has a PhD in microbiology and has moved his American operation to Steele to be near Rob. McKenna remains in his native Australia much of the year. That fertilizer, or "soil enhancer," is completely organic as well.

There have been obstacles, as every farmer knows. Last year Rob lost about $11,000 in greenhouse plants (vegetables and bedding plants) when the lingering drought caused his greenhouse well to go dry. Additional water barrels and other helps this year will hopefully offset those problems.

Rob will be growing nine types of tomatoes in the greenhouse and surrounding acreage this year, three types of squash, 10 varieties of pepper, four types of watermelons, two or three varieties of cantaloupes (with seed obtained from the St. Clair Farmers Co-op in Ashville) and much more.

He also will have three types of basil, oregano, thyme, sage, tarragon, peppermint, dill and more, with the greenhouses beginning to be open AEA week 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

While Rob shares his organic message with many, he’s also an advocate of the complete "buy fresh, buy local" mindset AND of making certain today’s young people know where their food and fiber comes from.

Angie teaches physical education at Ashville Elementary, the school where son Nick, age 12, attends. Four-year-old son, Ridge, attends school at Westbrook Christian. The family also includes 14-month-old Cove.

"Angie brought her classes here a couple of years ago when she was working with a special summer program," Rob explained. "The teachers and students enjoyed it so much now many of them bring their other classes."

"Too many of the kids think their food comes from Wal-Mart and they don’t realize there had to be a farmer involved at the beginning. At one class I asked a little boy to look at the tag in his shirt. It was made of cotton but none in the class knew where cotton came from. It’s so important they know how important farmers are to this country."

Rob plans to have baby chicks, his pygmy goats (Ridge asked for GOATS for his birthday —- surely a farmer in the making!!!), and more on-hand for students to see when they visit in February or March.

Rob uses Chandler Mountains’ tomato crops as one example. "There are a lot of the tomato farmers there who are getting older. What will happen when they retire if there’s nobody to take their places?"

Rob points out that a ripe tomato locally grown, is usually rosy red because it ripens on the vine and there’s no additives added, while a tomato shipped from California or Mexico was likely picked while "green" and then "gassed" to bring it to its rosy pink or ripened color.

He has been campaigning for a spot on ALFA’s statewide Horticulture Committee, saying one of his biggest projects will be a campaign to have ALL supermarkets required to list the country of origin of ALL their vegetables.

"Natural things are what God has given us," Rob said. "It’s our responsibility to keep farming the way it should be; to make sure small farming continues in the future."

Suzy Lowry Geno, a Blount County farmer and freelancer, welcomes ideas for her Homesteading Now column. You can reach her by email at suzysoldfieldfarm@yahoo.com or by phoning 205-446-1469.