By Dariush Shafa
Messenger-Inquirer
OWENSBORO, — Ky. May 25--Inmates at the Daviess County Detention Center are back at work in the jail’s backyard, planning to make the jail’s garden a success for a fifth year.
The garden, which covers about an acre, is used to grow fresh vegetables to supplement the inmates’ diets. There’s also a bit of a financial incentive, Jailer David Osborne said, as last year the jail saved about $10,000 because of growing some of its own food, a dollar amount he hopes the jail can match again this year.
Saving that kind of money is definitely a plus, Osborne said, but having the garden and letting inmates care for it has had a positive impact.
“We do it mostly to cut down on idle time for the inmates. The more we can cut down on the idle time, the better it will be for the inmates,” Osborne said. “It’s a good stress reliever and it takes pressure off the deputies if they’re well-behaved.”
DCDC houses the most state prison inmates, and Osborne said that keeps him mindful of the need to keep the inmates busy.
“It’s good for them. There’s a feeling of accomplishment,” Osborne said. “It also gives them a lot of bragging rights.”
As it turns out, the biggest problem with the garden doesn’t come from inside the jail’s walls but from outside. As with last year, a nearby group of gophers has its eyes and stomachs on the crops.
“They do stand outside, on the other side of the fence, and it’s almost like they’re laughing,” Osborne said.
One of the most critical parts of the garden, however, isn’t in the ground or the plants themselves, Osborne said. It’s in the people who run the garden. Each year, he said, they rely on one or two inmates with a farming background or who are otherwise very knowledgeable about agriculture. They lead other inmates in the garden work, and the hope is that they are able to keep watch on the garden from planting to harvest.
This year, inmate Perry Hack is overseeing the garden. Working in the garden is a familiar atmosphere, Hack said.
“It’s a family thing. I’ve been doing it ever since I can remember,” Hack said. “It makes my time go by, makes me feel like I’m at home and it helps the jail too.”
Hack said it’s one of the most enticing jobs that an inmate can land at the jail, especially since his knowledge and experience will mean he has to do some teaching and leading.
“It feels good to get out and get some fresh air, and it makes me feel good to have a little responsibility put on me. If I can help somebody learn something, there’s that too,” Hack said. “Any time you’ve got some outside work like that, it’s good for the morale. It’s good all the way around.”
Osborne said it’s possible that what the men learn while working with the garden may teach them a thing or two they can use on the outside.
Hack said that very principle of learning by doing can mean a lot to inmates like himself.
“Any time you can educate yourself, learning something you didn’t know before, it’s a good thing, especially in the circumstances we’re in,” he said.
In the future, Osborne said, he hopes the garden will grow a little more, expanding to further supplement’s the jail’s food supply and hopefully even provide a little surplus that could go to local social services and homeless shelters.
For now, though, they’re just working to make a successful garden.
“The proof will be in the harvest,” Osborne said.
Copyright 2009 Messenger-Inquirer