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For many of the men in Graterford maximum-security prison, life is a gray
routine of sleep, meals, prison jobs, and indoor recreation. But step outside,
and you see quite a different picture. Nearly every inch of tillable earth on
the grounds is flourishing with flowers and vegetables. In the evening, as many
as 300 inmates can be seen tending their gardens. "They could be playing
cards or watching TV," says Nancy Bosold, extension agent in Montgomery
County. "But this is where they want to be-with their plants." The
gardens are part of a horticulture project coordinated by Bosold, Penn State
master gardeners, and other volunteers from the community. "The interest in
plants started in the mid-1980s when one of the inmates, Matt Epps, asked if he
could start a garden plot and later wrote a proposal for a horticultural
program," Bosold explains. "Master gardener Sandy Schultz gathered
volunteers and materials, and the program got under way in 1991.
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