After a year of being forced to work remotely, we were so excited to return to gardening in prisons, and specifically to establish gardens at four new partner facilities. It has been a challenging season in many ways, from starting our gardens late due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, to the record rains we received. Despite that, our students have been wonderfully engaged with the lessons and the plant life they work so hard to foster. Our students have practiced being observant and asking questions, and have maintained a positive attitude despite various problems in any given facility, eg, rabbit pressure in one garden, poor drainage and heavy rain in another’s raised beds, blights, mildews, and other wet season loving pathogens. Throughout the season, there have been discouraging losses of plants or of produce, however our students have consistently shown a resilience and readiness to let it go and focus on the accomplishments.
It’s always inspiring to see the different levels of strength and resilience that our students display in uncertain or scary circumstances. Students look to their time in the garden as a moment of respite, a feeling shared by our volunteers. We recognize that no one person has the same learning style and we work to accommodate and adapt to those styles. It is particularly gratifying to see our budding horticulturists work to better understand something that may not come easily to them, or suddenly relate to certain lessons or topics on a personal or emotional level. These are the moments in the garden that help ground us.
We have continued to grow in number of volunteer educators, and this has increased our capacity for supporting students. We have also continued working to build up our guest presenter roster, and have worked to find experts in subjects in which our students have expressed interest. These subjects include hydroponics, entrepreneurship, tree care, herbalism, greenhouse production. Subsequently, we have welcomed three new green industry professionals into the gardens with us.
Throughout the season, over 200 pounds of fresh produce were used in facility kitchens, enjoyed by students, or donated to The Roslindale Food Pantry. The marigolds that line most flower beds in otherwise barren looking courtyards or spaces bring joy to incarcerated folks and prison staff alike.
In a prison courtyard in the middle of a city where the surrounding walls block out any neighboring trees, the simple yet necessary joy that time in the garden provokes reconnects people with nature and with themselves. We all crave that connectedness, and a small plot of greenery reminds us of that. This joy and connectedness are best expressed by a student, who when asked what their biggest accomplishment was this season, eagerly replied “We’ve been seeing bees, and even butterflies! We never saw those here before” - C.L.
Cheers to a fruitful season and a restful, healthy winter!
