Inmates at the Steuben County Jail have a growing opportunity to make positive differences in their own lives and in the lives of others. Practical application of new skills and helping neighbors experiencing food insecurity can seem like a fresh start.

“The thought process is that it would give the inmates something to do, an educational program,” says Major David Sutton, jail superintendent. Funded by profits from the prison commissary, the prison began this program at least eight years ago with four raised beds in a fenced area, expanding over the years to twelve larger-than-the-average-garden sized plots. This year, they expect to add eight apple, pear, and peach trees.

The purpose is at least three-fold or, as Sheriff James “Jim” Allard says, “Win—win—win.” Gardening gives training in a skill that may well prove helpful when residents return to life outside, offering the possibility of more self-sufficiency when it comes to food. The inmate gardeners learn to use a variety of garden tools, how to plant, tend, and harvest vegetables, and absorb the golden rule of gardening—time put into the project rewards those doing the work with an often-proportional harvest.

And there’s a third element. Each year, the gardeners plan for a sizable surplus, which helps feed the prisoners and prison staff. About half the harvest goes to the Corning Community Food Bank, supplementing the staples there with wholesome, fresh produce, while giving another layer of meaning to the efforts of those doing the work.

While it’s often impossible to know what effect working in the garden may have on participants, corrections officers have seen few former inmate gardeners return to the jail. While off-duty and shopping in the community, Sheriff Allard recalls, he encountered a former inmate hard at work for an area merchant who praised the young man’s work ethic. It was satisfying to see how that individual was succeeding after his time inside. Another former inmate has now become a farmer. “I think being held to a standard helps,” the sheriff says.

“It’s what we hope for—to give them some of the tools they could use on the outside to become a productive member of society,” Major Sutton says. “Whether they choose to use that is up to them.” When released, the former inmates will return to being neighbors, parents, spouses, employees. Even better to leave with the sense of accomplishment that comes from having learned, firsthand, something beneficial, despite incarceration.

Inmates accepted into the program have to be serving in the county jail for nonviolent crimes and deemed not a flight risk. In the gardening program, they work at a variety of outdoor jobs including mowing, tending flower beds, rototilling, cultivating, planting, watering, weeding, and picking vegetables, under the supervision of corrections officers like Jason Smith, who grew up on a farm and is a home gardener himself.

Jason says working outside is peaceful because it gives inmates (and officers) fresh air, sunshine, and time away from the inevitable drama of living 24/7 in close quarters with other people. The gardeners don’t get paid for their work, but those assigned to harvest produce are allowed to nibble. “Just as long as they’re not eating more than they put in the basket,” Jason grins.

Jason favors straight, neat rows in the beds, using heavy landscape cloth with spaced holes to inhibit weeds from overwhelming the plants. The inmate garden uses neither commercial fertilizers nor pesticides. Critter control may be assisted by both the high fence around the garden and the nearby kennels where the K-9 corps spends some of their downtime.

There are occasions when lack of staff to supervise the growers has postponed garden work. Sometimes, Linnea Shumway, director of food service at the prison—and also a gardener herself—spends time weeding and picking. Planning for the year also means the occasional experiment, like last year’s sweet corn. Linnea notes that while they had a delicious harvest, corn took up far more space to produce a smaller yield than tomato or pepper plants, so they don’t expect to be growing it again. Herbs, tomatoes, peppers, greens, onions, and squash are more productive per square foot, and help add variety to meals. As a chef, Linnea appreciates being able to offer fresh-from-the-garden vegetables to supplement the dietician-planned meals served at the jail. And as a gardener, she most enjoys helping deliver part of the harvest to the Corning Community Food Pantry. Last year they delivered 2,000 pounds of food.

“Clients love to receive fresh produce, and we have really tried to up our fresh produce availability,” says Mary Caruso, director of the Corning Community Food Pantry. “The produce from the inmates’ garden is very basic—onions, peppers, cabbage, and of course, tomatoes and zucchini. Clients love it all!” She’ll hear someone say happily, “Guess I’m having a tomato sandwich for lunch!” For a person without a garden, it’s a special treat.

“We really want them to eat healthy, but if you don’t grow it, fresh produce is expensive,” Mary says. “I think it gives the inmates pride to be able to contribute.”

County legislator and food pantry volunteer Hilda Lando says, “It’s exciting. People who come in are in dire need of food, and when they can get fresh vegetables, it changes things. They just look so happy—they don’t have the ability to buy all that stuff.” Food pantry staples tend to be mostly shelf-stable boxed and canned goods.

Hilda says she hopes the idea will be taken up by other municipalities, and, in fact, Major Sutton has talked to other prison administrators considering similar food programs to give their inmates roots…and wings.