Thanks to the ISU Extension, a dozen inmates from the North Central Correctional Facility (NCCF) in Rockwell are interacting alongside area residents in a program titled “Master Gardener Behind Bars.”

Dr. Eldon Everhart, commercial horticulture specialist for ISU Extension, established the horticulture program after he presented his idea to the medium-security prison last fall.

“After I presented the program last fall, they asked if I could come back again,” Everhart said.

“I milled around with ideas and came up with the Master Gardener program. After several meetings with administrators within the prison, we were able to get the program established,” Everhart said.

According to a press release, this program unites 12 inmates from the correctional facility with 14 area residents in a 40-hour training program.

The effort is thought to be the only formal Master Gardener program in the United States available to inmates.

“There has been a Master Gardener program in Iowa since 1977, but there hasn’t been one in [Rockwell] for several years,” said Mary Clancey of the Calhoun County Extension.

Participants in the program receive 40 hours of hands-on training on Tuesdays and Thursdays and are divided into two groups — the “insiders,” or those within the facility, and the “outsiders,” who remain outside the facility.

“On Tuesday afternoons, both groups meet together at the facility’s visitor center for live presentations,” Clancey said.

“Then on Thursday evenings the two groups meet separately through ICN [Iowa Communications Network],” she said.

“Insiders” participate in live, two-way programs through the correctional facility, while the “outsiders” participate from the ICN room at Rockwell City-Lytton High School.

“All of the programs are videotaped so those that are unable to participate can make up their missed hours,” Clancey said.

All participants receive their training through ISU Extension staff and specialists.

Lawn care, perennial and annual flowers, vegetables, soils, ornamentals and plant diseases are among the topics covered.

The cost of this program is $75, which includes a large notebook with 100 different publications on horticulture topics.

It also helps pay for the ICN cost and the specialized instructions cost.

After the participants finish training, they are required to perform 40 hours of volunteer service to receive their Master Gardener title or certification.

“Both groups must perform 40 hours of volunteer service to give back to their community,” Clancey said.

“We have the program set up so the volunteer hours are within your own community. Those within the facility perform their service by teaching classes to others, writing articles, or working in the orchard at the facility,” she said.

The facility has an apple orchard and vegetable and flower gardens at which many inmates work.

Thousands of fruits and vegetables are produced annually.

“The first session went very well,” Everhart said of the initial class on house plants.

Both Clancey and Everhart said they are pleased and excited with the program so far.

“I really am enthusiastic about the program,” Everhart said. “This program is a good way to possibly rehabilitate a few of the inmates as well as hopefully give them a hobby. I hope that a few of them will continue with horticulture as an occupation.”

Everhart said he hopes other correctional facilities will use this program as a starting point for their programs.

The program began Jan. 20 and will continue through March 5.

“Outsiders” will attend a field trip to ISU’s Reiman Gardens on Feb. 21.

The trip will be videotaped for people inside the correctional facility as well as for people who cannot attend.