When Randy Liberty started a new job in 2015, he brought with him experience as a cop, military drill sergeant, Kennebec County sheriff, and soldier in Iraq. In his spare time he was a gardener and a beekeeper, so it’s not surprising that when he looked around the grounds of his new workplace he began to think about where some land could be set aside for a vegetable garden. It was a novel idea, mainly because the garden would be located inside the razor wire-topped fences of the Maine State Prison.
Three years later, the prison gardens cover three acres and yield more than 8,000 pounds of produce, a number that should jump to 12,000 next year. Inmates do all the work: planning, planting, tending, harvesting. Only those with good records in the prison can be picked as gardeners, and the jobs are coveted. “Couldn’t ask for a better group of guys,” says Captain Ryan Fries, who supervises the program. “And the list of people who want to work in the greenhouse and on the grounds crew is staggering.”
To Liberty, the warden of the prison, a garden made sense on a number of levels, starting with the practical. “Why would we transport tomatoes from Arizona?” he asks. “I mean, why would we buy bulk like that from the Midwest when we can grow them here?” Most of the food the gardens produce goes directly to the prison kitchen. What’s left is distributed to food pantries. Among the other benefits: inmates learn a skill (fifteen have become master gardeners), enjoy productive work, develop a sense of self-worth. “I get just peace of mind out of it,” inmate Greg Warmke told me. “I love doing this type of work. It’s not work for me—it’s a passion.”
Nearly all of these inmates will eventually be released, and the hope is the gardening program will help them on the outside, making them less likely to get into trouble and end up back in a cell. Captain Fries cuts to the heart of the issue: “When these guys get out, who do you want living next to you—someone who’s a productive member of society or a guy who’s just looking for his next deal?”