Andrea Bithell, aka The Garden Lady, will be teaching Dallas County’s criminals how to grow things.Prison gardens have become something of a thing in recent years, sprouting in California, then taking root in an increasing number of jails and penitentiaries across the country. The benefits claimed by gardening advocates are numerous: reduced recidivism rates; skills that are transferable to life on the outside; food costs drop if the produce is used in the institution’s kitchen; hardened criminals are inculcated with an obnoxiously self-righteous preference for organic food.
The movement has finally made its way to Dallas County. Commissioners will hear Tuesday about plans to establish an organic garden to serve inmates enrolled in a gardening and landscaping course.
I have a call into the county for more information, but some details are provided in Tuesday’s agenda. The county would be teaming up with Oak Cliff Organics, which would plant a butterfly garden in one rectangular planter; a garden for food crops in another; and various types of flowers, herbs and cover crops in four circular planters.
The plots would be tended by teams of five or six inmates working under the supervision of two armed jailers. The garden work would be concurrent with OCO’s five-week curriculum, which instructs students on the finer points of organic garden design and maintenance.
The project is expected to cost the county $15,000 — $9,000 for supplies and $6,000 for OCO’s time and expertise.
There’s no mention in the plans of what the county or OCO plans to do with the harvest though, given the size of the beds, it won’t be terrifically bountiful. But you never know. If the program proves successful and expands along the banks of the Trinity, Lew Sterrett-brand tomatoes may be hitting the grocery shelves someday.
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