Fruit and Vegetable Garden Thrives at Salt Lake Metro Jail
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – March 20, 2015 – Gephardt Daily
Salt Lake’s Metro Jail is the last place where you’d expect to see a thriving fruit and vegetable garden. But, there it is, a nearly two-acre garden smack-dab in the middle of the jail facility. The jail, in co-operation with several state entities including the University of Utah’s Master Gardener Program, offers select inmates the opportunity to work in the facility’s garden.
The jail started the gardening program in 2007 but it was removed for four years because of budget cuts. The program was brought back in 2011 with the help of the University of Utah to become a thriving and popular community outreach. Under the supervision of several agriculturists, the inmates (about 15 in all) actually begin a hands-on education, which if they complete the course, can result in paid jobs when they are released.
“I am so glad that this program exists,” one inmate said. “The opportunity for someone like me to come out of this place with a skill and a job means there’s a real light at the end of this dark tunnel.” The jail’s garden actually produces many different vegetables, fruits and spices. From onions and asparagus to grapes and beans.
The garden now has about 40 different types of crops and some of the inmates have opted to try 
their luck uncommon fruits and vegetables for Utah like pineapple and white raspberries. “Our rosemary plants are pretty sturdy. They have been thriving since last year and because of the light winter we had, they are already perking up,” said another inmate, whose job is to oversee the garden’s watering process.
Each year the inmates, with the help of various specialists, plant, grow and harvest the fruits and vegetables to take to the Downtown Farmer’s Market where the crops are sold to the community. “It’s gratifying to them to see exactly where their hard work is going,” one of the assisting agriculturists said. “It is life-changing to some of them.”
Fruits and vegetables from the Salt Lake County Jail’s garden will be available at the weekly Downtown Farmer’s Market located at 400 West in Pioneer Park. Proceeds from the sales help sponsor the Garden Program.
