Category Archives: Uncategorized

This was our biggest surprise! We were contacted by an agency that had heard we were donating plants, and vegetables to nonprofit organizations and after a brief description of their “Head Start Program,” we were more than happy to help them. They had a kitchen in their school building and a creative chef who wouldContinue reading “Our Community”

Mathew 6: 25-26 .Our garden began producing immediately after being planted. In the first year we delivered vegetables on a regular basis to the prison chow hall for both officer and inmate meals. Our immediate community food banks could not believe the amount of produce we were donating to them. I thanked my coworkers whoContinue reading “The Garden”

It took us three days to complete the manure excavation. We filled eight dump trucks and I was able to empty them without incident into what would become the main prison garden. What I learned from the maintenance mechanics who had been involved in the construction of the prison was that the developers took allContinue reading “The Excavation Completed”

We had agreed that we would need to get the facilities dump truck and back hoe tractor to do the excavation. I would let the warden know what are plans were and get his approval for use of the facilities equipment. We figured that it may take us about 3 days to complete the project,Continue reading “The Excavation Begins”

The journalist finished the interview and the Warden was happy. The article would appear in our metropolitan paper later in the week. I made arrangements to visit her farm. Once that was done, I would let the warden know what I thought we could do to get the manure for our garden. We said ourContinue reading “The Adventure”

.She was a free-lance journalist for one of our leading metro newspapers, and she wanted to speak with me about the Horticulture program. I was called to the Warden’s conference room in the Administration Building, and that was not viewed by any of my colleagues as a good thing. A page overhead for an employeeContinue reading “The Barn”

Earlier in my teaching career I had a run in with a deputy and her assistant. She and her assistant had tried to stop the warden from approving my plans for landscaping the prison grounds to no avail. What I didn’t realize then was that they viewed me as a threat. This was told toContinue reading “She Did Not Want Flowers”

.After all the craziness with the contraband and the need to change my curriculum away from the distribution of house plants, I took new inspiration from a woman I met at a correctional teacher’s conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her name was Elanor Jositis and I could identify with her struggle to bring opportunity toContinue reading “A New Perspective”

.So after three long months of investigations and my program being put on hold I was informed by our school officer that a cell phone, 32mm magazine clip (missing 2 bullets with 5 bullets remaining in the clip) and a buck knife were discovered inside a plant container. An ounce of Marihuana was also discoveredContinue reading “And then there were three…”

The officers came out of the supply room with the evidence of their dalliance being a little disheveled. They tucked in their shirts and straightened out their uniform pants as they exited opposite ends of the school building. This had been reported to me by a colleague who had witnessed them leaving the supply roomContinue reading “The House Plant Business”