HMP Phoenix Garden ProjectIn 2020, the Research Exchange Group on Horticultural Therapy at the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research hosted a presentation by the Insight Garden Program at San Quentin Prison in California. Luckily, a member of the local Horticultural Therapy group also happened to work at HMP. She asked if some interested inmates might watch the presentation by videoconference. Inspired by the program in California, and by similar programs in Nova Scotia and in British Columbia, the Research Exchange Group assembled a project team that includes a botanist from Memorial’s Botanical Gardens, horticultural therapists, educators, artists and musicians who have been meeting weekly with a group of inmates and support staff at HMP to get the project underway. The project also relies on leadership from the inmates themselves. The inmates have named the program, designed the logo you see here, and helped build the greenhouse and gardens last year. They are taking responsibility for cultivation, weeding, watering, and feeding. They harvests from their gardens and the food they grow is shared with their fellow inmates. The inside gardeners are learning a lot, and are making meaningful contributions to each other and to their community.
Sun Valley Greenhouses has generously provided a beautiful cedar greenhouse (moveable to the new prison being built in coming years) and were a marvellous help with its construction. See pictures here.