When Dale Uno worked a desk job as communications director for UH-Manoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, "I stayed at my desk all day and only got up to get coffee," she said with a sigh. "I used to have a hard time walking up and down stairs. I told myself, 'I should join a gym' — but didn't. I even bought a Total Gym and never used it."

In 2008, she made a major career change, going to work at Nalo Farms for Dean Okimoto. She discovered a love for working outdoors with plants and flowers.

After six months with Nalo Farms, Uno took a job as general manager for Ed Miyashita at Growing Creations in Waimanalo. Now she is constantly in motion, lifting two-gallon tubs of plants, two at a time, maneuvering 130-pound rolling racks into and out of vans and walking nonstop around the three-acre nursery property nestled under the Ko'olaus. She has even learned to use heavy machinery such as tractors and backhoes.

With a job requiring constant physical labor, the petite Uno is more fit than she's ever been. In fact, she has to shop in the children's section at Wal-Mart to find jeans that fit her tiny, trim figure. At 41, with three children, Lianne, 21, Dylan, 14, and Sophia, 6, this is a remarkable feat.

The lifestyle change from sedentary office worker to farmer has been the best decision of her life, Uno said. "There's a huge reduction in stress. There is some stress, of course, getting ready for market and setting up, but it's short-lived."

Uno packs up, unloads and sets up a stand at farmers markets on Fort Street Mall on Tuesdays and Fridays, in Kailua on Thursday evenings and at Kapi'olani Community College on Saturdays. There are often other events, such as Mother's Day sales and growers' sales at Thomas Square, which require tremendous physical exertion. "I can't sit still. There's always something — shoveling, lifting, hoeing, even stapling and cutting boxes are all part of the physical exercise that goes with the job."

Of course, Miyashita helps with the loading, but she is often on her own when unloading and wheeling those huge carts, which weigh more than she does, into the market.

Uno finds working around plants to be an altogether happy experience. "Happiness begets happiness," she said. "My daughter (Sophia) made us signs that say, 'Happy plants for sale here.' And that's so true. You sell someone an orchid plant or flower and it makes them happy, whether it's for themselves or for a friend who's down."

Evidently, that goes for the farmer, too.