Juvenile probationers learn gardening

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A partnership between St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and the Van Wert County Juvenile Probation Department has resulted in garden vegetables for members of the community, as well as a positive experience for the juvenile probationers that have worked in the church’s garden this summer.

According to Probation Officer Nancy Sparks, who oversees some of the probationers who work in the garden, said Judge Kevin Taylor, who is a member of St. Mark’s, approached the probation department earlier this year to see if staffers were interested is taking over the garden as a community service project for juveniles on probation.

Probation Officer Matt Ream said the garden’s beds were falling apart when staffers first visited the garden, so the department looked for resources to help get the garden in shape. Ace Hardware donated lumber for the beds, Tractor Supply Company provided wire and a metal cattle panel used as an arbor to support pole beams, Rural King donated chicken wire and tools, and Laurie’s Naturescapes offered both free and discounted plants and fertilizer.

The program started with preparing the garden for planting, including repairing wooden bed rails, with Ream and two boys on probation dismantling and replacing old boards. The boys were also allowed to use an electric drill after being taught basic safety rules.

Ream and probationers later installed the cattle panel/arbor for pole beans and a gate to support tomato plants and students were taught how to use basic garden tools: hoes, a manual tiller, a rotating cultivator, rakes, hand trowels, and shovels.

Planting then began, with probationers planting tomatoes, peppers, kohlrabi, cabbage, parsley, zucchini, two kinds of squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peas, and pole beans. Marigold flowers and sunflower seeds were also planted, with all the plants doing well except the peas — which saw only one plant survive. In addition to learning about hard work and responsibility, the probationers also developed pride and ownership in the garden.

Sarah Cripe, who schedules probationers for community service work, noted that approximately 21 youngsters had worked in the garden sometime this summer, while the Probation Department received “in kind” donations from Wren resident Jackie Brandt and from court and probation staff members. Van Wert resident Wesley Delong, who lives in the house immediately south of the garden, has also allowed the probation staff to park on his property to deliver water to the plants, while also touring the garden himself. Delong even donated a terrarium (indoor garden growing system) to one of the probationers.

Cripe said that, in addition to fulfilling community service requirements, probationers and those on the diversion program could also work off court costs and restitution, earning minimum wage credit for the work they did in the garden.

Throughout the spring and summer, probationers have weeded and watered the garden, as well as aerated the soil, with Sparks adding that lots of watering and weeding was needed in July when temperatures began rising. A lot of time was also spent on teaching the kids the basics of gardening: learning how to use hoes and rakes safely, while also learning how to take direction and work together.

So far, the probationers have begun harvesting kohlrabi, cabbage, peppers, and beets, which will be donated to First United Methodist Church’s food bank, while the flowers will remain in the garden to make it more attractive.

“Overall, it was great for the students to see growth in, and feel pride for, what they had accomplished,” said Sparks, who added she feels the garden has been a great community service project for the probationers, while also giving the youngsters an experience most of them would not have had.