High hopes for cooperative vegetable patch

Mike Foynes of the Cheboygan Tribume (Michigan) reports that Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clermont hopes that a new project will provide both an outlet for prisoners, and food for the needy. Using a plot of land behind a county office building, jail inmates will be able to earn time off their sentences by growing vegetables:

According to Clarmont, jail inmates and Cheboygan County Commissioners have been receptive to the idea.

“There will be fresh vegetables for the needy in our community as a result of this work,” he declared. “We'll try potatoes, onions, beets, corn, tomatoes, the whole gamut. The MSU Extension Office will advise us on what will work best for us. The vegetables will be donated to non-profit charities, primarily the Food Pantry.”

Deputy Kelsey Kennedy donated equipment and labor to start the project by turning over the soil at the site Tuesday.

“We've probably got a quarter of an acre here ready to go,” Clarmont said. “That's a pretty good-sized garden.”

The primary recipient for the food is the community food bank operated by St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Cheboygan.