Growing More Than Greenery

GrowingMore Than Greenery

Master Gardeners and CalFresh plant seeds of hope for women in a detention center.

Words by Sue Burns

Planting and tending a garden. Decorating pumpkins with succulents. Learning about plant propagation. Creating a holiday wreath. These activities probably wouldn’t be top of mind when thinking about the daily schedule of women who are incarcerated. And yet, these types of projects are becoming the norm for women in a low-security housing unit at the Bob Wiley Detention Center. More than a way to pass the time, these undertakings are helping the women to develop valuable skills and strengthen character traits integral to their rehabilitation and reentry into life at home once they’ve served their sentences.

The gardening program began with food, or rather, it began with Programs Deputy Michelle Hall, who has worked at the center for several years. Deputy Hall also taught at San Joaquin Valley College and worked at the Kings County Juvenile Detention Center, where she enjoyed running the garden program. Hall and her colleague recognized that women atthe center were reluctant to leave their bunks, much less participate in any programs. To get them engaged and energetic, Hall and her colleague started a garden in the housing unit, which has a yard with irrigation. Plantingtrees and bushes, they looked for ways to get the women involved in learning about them. When her partner movedto another position, Hall continued to run the program.

Hall contacted California's nutrition assistance and nutrition education resources, CalFresh and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). The goal was to make EFNEP’s free classes available to women there who would qualify for them outside the facility, educating them about nutrition, cooking, and budgeting. Tulare-Kings Counties Master Gardener Janis Cohen joined representatives from CalFresh at a meeting with Hall and others about free classes. As a result, Master Gardeners were given the opportunity to offer additional activities, starting with decorative pumpkin succulents in October and holiday wreaths in December.

Cohen shared how rewarding the interactions are with appreciative clients who love going outside to work hard in the garden. “Michelle has been the driving force behind the program, implementing an additional reading activity where she gets children’s books and takes videos of the moms reading them aloud in the garden. Their children then receive the video and the book. She is really working on teaching them how to nurture.”

Hall’s biggest challenge was the curriculum. She thanked Cohen for acting as her encyclopediaof all things gardening. Their most recent course, about pruning, had over 30 women take part. Hall encourages the women to get out for other activities like basketball, and she holds educational programs outside to get them into fresh air, as well. In her words, she has “winged it,” as she’s been mostly on her own to create the programs. Discussions start with inspirational quotes to spark interest and connect to life, and then she provides brainteasers and instructional games to get the women further engaged.

With the creation of raised beds approved and water supply hookups located, Hall is working with the facility's building and trades personon the setup. She will then team up with Cohen and Master Gardeners to design the garden plan. Hall has also been approved to cook some dishes with the women to share with the group.

As they learn more about food and gardening, Michelle asks the women what they’d like to see planted, encouraging their personal buy-in through valuing and respecting their opinions. Unsurprisingly, interest has increased among

non-participants, who now want to join. Hall hopes to expand the program with greenhouses to grow (and sell) larger quantities of produce, providing the women with skills in business, management, and organization.

The biggest reward? “Women love getting outside and touching the dirt,” she said. “Soil has microbes that facilitate good health. It changes you, and it makes you feel good. I’m getting these women up and out; they love to be outside and doing things! Some inmates have no idea about gardening and love learning...it changes the whole rest of their day after they’ve been in the garden.”

Hall is most excited about seeing strengthened empathy and nurturing qualities amongthe women as they encourage each otherto participate and work together. She is confident that growing these critical traits and entrepreneurial skills while caring for the facility garden will carry over into positive contributions to their families and the world outside.

ucanr.edu/sites/UC_Master_Gardeners/ calfresh.dss.ca.gov/food