Associated Press
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Forget the orange jumpsuits - it’s a group with green thumbs that will soon color the grounds at the Franklin County Regional Jail.
Officials have broken ground on what will become an inmate-run garden just beside the jail facilities on Coffee Tree Road.
“It’s a way to reduce food costs and to give the inmates a skill when they leave here,” said Jailer Rick Rogers.
The plowed area is just under an acre in size. Using low-risk state inmates for labor, they hope to grow as many food items as possible, including cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, turnips, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe and peppers.
That food will then be harvested, vacuum-sealed and frozen until it’s finally used to supplement meals for those housed at the jail.
“The inmates will take care of that,” Rogers said. “They’ll weed it. They’ll pick the stuff. They’ll freeze it. They’ll do every bit of it.”
The concept of a jail garden isn’t new. FCRJ had a similar program when Rogers worked at the jail several years ago.
“They kept it for a year or two and then just stopped under a previous administration,” he said. “I liked it, the inmates liked it.”
Cost savings weren’t analyzed at the time, but Rogers said they plan to keep track as they move forward with the program so they can pinpoint an exact dollar amount of benefits.
Looking at jail gardens in surrounding counties, he expects it will lead to significant savings over the course of a year.
Startup costs are being covered by money generated through the inmates’ commissary fees. Restrictions are placed on that money, requiring that it be spent to benefit inmates.
The jail’s bank account isn’t the only thing that will see profit, Rogers said. Gardening skills will not only help inmates after they leave, they could even mean a trouble-free remainder of their sentence.
“You’re putting them to work and they’re less bored,” said Chief Deputy Kelly Rouse. “And if they’re not bored, then they don’t have time to think about other activities.”
Planting won’t begin until the beginning of May. Until then, officials will keep busy with preparations.
“We still have some work to do,” Rogers said. “We have to reconstruct the fence that goes around it because we have a huge deer population up here.”
On top of that, jail officials are also working with the county’s solid waste administrator to set up a composting station, which will be used to fertilize the garden.
And if the program proves successful after its first season, it could mean more work in future years.