The Douglas County Jail's garden sits southwest of the facility. Inmates at the jail are learning how to grow vegetables.

A inmate picks tomatoes on Thursday, August 5, 2010 at the Douglas County Jail garden. The vegetables grown in the garden are incorporated into the meals of the inmate population.

Mike Caron, programs director at the Douglas County Jail, was told the soil wasn’t exactly perfect for growing food. But a few months after starting the jail’s first garden, a wide variety of vegetables and fruits are thriving.

“Surprisingly, it’s worked out really, really well,” he said. “The garden is flourishing.”

Workers in the jail kitchen are using cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini – and eventually pumpkins – in inmates’ meals.

Caron said the garden was designed to reduce produce costs while giving inmates a chance to work outside and learn a little about gardening. He’s received a lot of positive feedback from the inmates.

“It’s been a delight getting out here with the inmates,” he said. “They really relish the opportunity to get some sun and get their hands dirty out here.”

The garden has been a collaborative project, and volunteers across the community have pitched in. Many of the supplies and plants were donated by area greenhouses and community members, Caron said.

With the success, the garden will continue next year, and Caron said he hopes to partner with the Lawrence Community Shelter when they relocate to their future site, which is near the jail.

“For a first-year experiment, I don’t think we could ask for it to go any better,” he said.