Behind the garden wall
Not only plants grow in this garden
Some San Quentin inmates are digging their way out of prison

Noelle Robbins
Saturday, January 14, 2006

It is hard not to notice the gray. Pale gray buildings surround an expanse of asphalt. Men in blue move in a somber fashion through a landscape of windswept concrete. For a first-time visitor to San Quentin State Prison, there can be a sense of foreboding and, frankly, fear.

But then a splash of vivid color bursts forth -- tucked into a small area bordered by steel-gray fencing and shadowed by a looming charcoal-gray tower. A garden, stitched into the corner like a bright calico patch lovingly tacked onto the frayed edge of a dull gray flannel blanket, glows in the late-afternoon sun.

Vibrant shades of reedy green, deep lake blue, rich garnet and burnished yellow-gold shimmer and undulate in the breezes buffeting the plot -- an image that is inviting and peaceful in a location that dictates against such a mood. And, although this garden lies on some of the most desirable real estate in the Bay Area, it is a rare law-abiding citizen who will have the pleasure of sharing it with the men who created it and nurture its growth.

The conceptual seeds of the garden were planted several years ago by Jacques Verduin, executive director of the Insight Prison Project, which sponsors 16 classes for San Quentin inmates that help them through incarceration and parole to become happier, more productive citizens. The classes include violence prevention, positive parenting, victim-offender dialogues, substance abuse, pre-parole preparation and meditation. Verduin, who believes that when "you grow plants, you grow people," had the backing of former San Quentin Warden Jeannie Woodford, a determined advocate of prisoner rehabilitation.

The project germinated under the guidance of Beth Waitkus, the volunteer director of the Insight Garden Program. For more than three years, she navigated the layers of institutional bureaucracy, fostering collaborative decision making between prison leadership, staff, inmates and volunteers.

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