Some of the many house plants and flowers grown in TCC’s horticulture program. Photo by Derek Thedell.
The program, a partnership between WCCW and TCC, provides students the opportunity to earn college credit while developing hands-on skills. Students spend time in the classroom learning about horticulture techniques and practices with TCC instructors and a volunteer Master Gardener. Students then implement what they have learned about plant production and care in two facility greenhouses and gardens throughout the grounds.
Some of the many succulents and plants available for WCCW to purchase. Photo by Derek Thedell.
Produce grown in the gardens often makes its way to the WCCW kitchen and is incorporated into menu items.
Some of the produce harvested by TCC horticulture students. Photo by Derek Thedell.
Other plants, like the ornamental kale, go to local businesses and organizations for landscaping.
Ornamental Kale at WCCW. Photo by Derek Thedell.
Some of the plants and flowers even go to the Governor’s mansion for special occasions throughout the year! Overall, TCC’s horticulture program is the perfect example of the importance of partnerships in delivering high-quality programs in WA prisons.
Text and photos by Bethany J. Shepler, Green Track Program Coordinator
Planted and cared for by the horticulture students at Olympic Corrections Center, these roses, are ready to bloom.
I had the pleasure of visiting Olympic Corrections Center (OCC) in June. I was excited to see all of the gardens’ growth and expansion since my visit last year. After my visit last year, I published a blog about the different sustainability programming at OCC. Though my visits were in different seasons, comparisons were still clear. OCC is on the Olympic Peninsula surrounded by the PNW’s famous temperate rainforest and gets rain most days of the year. OCC is referred to as a “camp”–meaning it houses people who have 4 years or less on their prison sentence–and currently houses about 380 incarcerated individuals. OCC offers some incredible sustainability programs including horticulture, a pre-apprenticeship trade skills program similar to TRAC, wastewater treatment, composting, wood shop, and dog training. OCC also partners with Peninsula College to offer educational opportunities. OCC’s horticulture program, sponsored by instructor Jamie Calley, allows students to take classes, plant and maintain gardens, design and implement projects, and earn certificates for their work.
This landscaping surrounds the greenhouses at OCC… the “H” is for horticulture!
When I first arrived, the facility looked pretty much the same: fences, buildings, lots of tan outfits. But, once I got inside and I was blown away by all of the plant growth and garden expansion in the horticulture area. The horticulture program’s hard work and innovation were well apparent: they’d added whole garden areas, flowerbeds encircling the greenhouses, and additional landscaping in the established garden area. In just over a year, the horticulture students and Ms. Calley have transformed OCC.
Below are pictures of the horticulture area from both my visit in March of 2018 and my most recent visit in June. They really illustrate how much the program participants have accomplished in a year.
March 2018
June 2019
March 2018
June 2019
This vegetable garden is a new addition since I visited last year. The horticulturists have been busy!These bananas grow inside the greenhouse – I got to eat one and they are delicious! Jamie Calley is the staff sponsor for the horticulture program at OCC. Here, Jamie is looking at some of the beautiful landscaping and gardens the horticulture cared for by students. Without a doubt, her enthusiastic support and advocacy for this program has enabled progress and expansions in the program.
Letter by a Horticulture Program graduate, courtesy of Scott Knapp, Horticulture Instructor
In 2013, a gardener works next to the pumpkin patch. Photo by Cyril Ruoso.
The Centralia College Horticulture Program at the Cedar Creek Correction Center (CCCC) is a valuable asset to our Communities. It teaches us the many aspects of horticulture such as Basic Botany, Equipment Operations, Composting, Pruning, Vertebrate Pest Management, Basic Entomology, Vegetable Gardening, Plant and Flower Propagation, Lawns and Weeds. These are all sustainable resources and very important in our ongoing endeavors to make the planet a better place.
Horticulture students and TAs cultivate ornamental and pollinator plantings throughout the grounds. This display is from summer, 2018.
This season we grew more than twenty-five thousand annual flowers in our greenhouses and planted them around the facility. In addition we grew 8,000 pounds of fresh garden bounty such as Walla Walla, Red and Candy onions, Blue Lake bush beans, Gold summer squash, zucchini, Beets, Carrots, Broccoli, Cabbage, tomatoes, radishes, apples, Bell peppers and strawberries.
Pumpkins await the Fall Family Fun event.
In addition, we support some of our Family Friendly events —most notably the Fall Family Fun event growing about two hundred pumpkins that the kids got to decorate with their dads, and the spring science fair with the plant a plant booth. These are great events and keep the kids and the dads connected to family.
All students and Horticulture Teaching Assistants (TA’s) in Mr. Knapp’s Horticulture program have earned twenty college credits toward our education in the horticulture industry. This will also assist us in our re-entry efforts when we return to our communities.
We learn how to work with a very diverse group of individuals as well as troubleshoot problems that may arise, not just in horticulture but in life. Accomplishing these things gives us a sense of self-worth and builds our self-esteem. Thank you to the Centralia College Faculty and Staff for making our lives better and helping us make the planet a better place.
Sincerely
Current Horticulture Graduate and Teachers Assistant.
Summer 2018 looked like a good one for growing Brassicas!
Text and photos by Bethany Shepler, SPP Green Track Program Coordinator
I recently visited Olympic Corrections Center (OCC) on the Olympic Peninsula near Forks, Washington. OCC is a “camp” for incarcerated individuals with 4 years or less remaining in their sentence. Inmates at OCC learn trades and gain valuable experiences for when they release. Among many options available to them is working for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as response teams for flooding, forest fires, and other work within national parks. OCC has an impressive garden setup where they grow plants and seedlings; they use these areas as labs for learning horticultural science and plant biology (a Peninsula College program). They also have excellent composting and wood shop programs.
It was a privilege to see their programming. Here are a few snapshots of their great work.
The greenhouse at OCC has seedlings, produce, flowers, and tropical plants. They grew dozens of flower baskets for Mother’s Day, for both inmates and staff to give to their mothers and wives.
Greenhouse technicians, like Wade pictured here, care for the plants while learning how to sow and grow a prosperous garden.
Look how big this succulent is! Greenhouse technicians have been caring for this guy for about 10 years.
Mark Case is another greenhouse technician. He hopes to have his own garden when he releases where he can put to use all of the knowledge he’s gained from working and learning in the gardens at OCC.
This pineapple isn’t ripe yet, but it sure is cute! When the pineapples are ready to eat, the technicians harvest and eat them.
Food, garden, and organic waste is composted on site at OCC. They have a large warehouse specifically designed for composting organic waste. The facility trains technicians who can then use this knowledge and skill base when they get out of prison.
OCC produced about 23 tons of compost last year alone! The product is used to amend the soil throughout the prison grounds.
The wood shop at OCC uses donated or reclaimed wood to make wood toy trucks, tractors, and cars. Each intricately detailed toy goes to charity for children.
Here are some more completed projects awaiting to be painted with sealant. Such nice work!
