JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Despite the hot, dry feel of the Kentucky summer, John Sallee is content watching his garden flourish.
“About 12 years we’ve had the garden. We’ve had some really good years and really bad years but this year has been great," Sallee said.
So far this year, there's been around two thousand pounds of food grown out of the garden.
Corn, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, beans, the list goes on.
A plentiful crop that any farmer would be happy with.
“Some of these heads of cabbage are the size of my head," Sallee said.
Now Sallee is not a farmer by trade.
You may recognize his name as the same as the Jessamine County Jailer.
His garden is really owned, operated and paid for by the jail, instituted as a part of the Inmate Work program.
So Sallee's hard working farm hands are inmates like Douglas Campanel, happy to get a break from being behind bars.
“I love it. It’s what I do at home," Campanel said.
"Being raised by my grandma, mom always dropped me off at my grandma’s and she was always up in the garden. I’ve done a lot of horse farming, cattle farming, regular gardens, tobacco, I’ve done about all of it.”
The Inmate Work program extends beyond the garden, integrating inmates into the community to connect and rehabilitate.
“Those guys clean up hundreds of tons of trash off the roads in Jessamine County every year. Any community based program, any big events that we do in the county. They’re always involved in everything we do," Sallee said.
“It's really rehabilitating to those guys to be able to come out here and have a purpose. They're helping provide food for the other guys at the jail, they're growing something. They're accomplishing something. They're proud of what they do.”
Campanel echoed that message, beyond helping the community.
He's thankful to be able to get out and interact in the real world, getting him ready for the day he does finish his sentence.
“It is a blessing to get out here everyday, for sure," Campanel said.
“Helps you relax. Keeps you off edge. It’s just a better perspective that helps you out when you get out. You’re used to being out here working out here in the sun not just sitting around in a cell."
