While walking out of seven block back through the administration building my colleague began talking about the prison farms and how the prison was very much self sufficient at one time. The farms produced beef, dairy, chickens, eggs, and pigs. They fed the inmates and prison staff with which could only be described in current terms as farm to table. I had heard stories about the farms and how large they were. I had heard the inmates were trained as meat cutters, cooks, bakers and in animal husbandry. My colleague confirmed that history. He also informed me that they did not have to buy anything from outside of the prison system. If they couldn’t make it or grow it, they didn’t need it. They also had factories to make furniture, clothes, shoes, and license plates. The furniture was used in state offices, prisoner cells, and prison offices. I actually had a chair and a desk that I used in my classroom for the 25 years I taught in corrections. That is either a testimony to how well the furniture was built or the fact that I didn’t sit much.
We proceeded to another part of the prison they called trustee-level one. It was there that the greenhouses were being operated. It was explained to me that only trustee-level one prisoners were allowed to run them. That designation meant that they were going to be going home soon , could be trusted to complete their tasks with intermittent supervision., and not try to escape. Although the later is what ended the prison farm program. Expecting a prisoner no matter how close to going home not to escape was unrealistic when presented the chance on a daily basis to do just that. When two escapees from the trustee-level one had escaped in the 1980s they killed a farmer and his wife. That incident and a number of other concerns from the immediate community would leave the prison administration an easy avenue for deciding to abolish the farms and make education of prisoners a higher priority. A good description of what they actually accomplished at the farms is depicted in the following article:
https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2014/06/peek_through_time_from_lush_ga.html
The greenhouses were of various construction. The newer ones had the standard visqueen and aluminum framing. The older ones actually had brick, cinder block and glass. All had furnaces, some fueled with wood burning stoves to help keep the costs of heating down in the winter. All the greenhouses were packed with plants. I was given 30 house plants to take back to my facility. Not having a greenhouse yet I would keep them in my classroom. My colleague informed me that they had a nursery where perennial plants grown at the other prison horticulture programs were kept and maintained. They would eventually end up in the landscape of Habitat For Humanity Homes. He informed me that I was welcome to grow plants for the Habitat Homes as well once we have a greenhouse. He also informed me that some of the prison horticulture programs were growing trees for the Department of Natural Resources He would walk me through the process once we got started if I chose to grow for these projects. He said it would even be better if I could find a signature plant (something really unique) which would identify our facility program as the grower. After seeing everything at this prison, it had been a long day and I had a long drive back. We exchanged our farewells and I was invited back when ever I wanted to see what was being accomplished there. He seemed enthusiastic that I would be helping their effort and gave me his contact information. With a department van loaded with house plants I headed back. My trip home went quick as I was truly inspired and could not wait to tell the warden what I thought we could accomplish at our facility. To be continued…..
MJ-Way 