By David K. Williams
Since 2010 a quiet program at the Dunn County Jail has helped feed the hungry through a partnership with Stepping Stones. Produce grown at the Jail Garden is distributed through the Farmers Feeding Dunn County program.
“This collaboration means healthy food for our neighbors in Dunn County and a strong partnership with the Jail,” said Angie Wolf, pantry manager at Stepping Stones. The overall Farmers Feeding Dunn County program provided over 40,000 pounds of fresh produce to Stepping Stones in 2023, and so far this year, the Jail Garden program has delivered 755 pounds of food to Stepping Stones.
Heather Pyka is the Jail Program Director with the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office. She noted the following fruits and vegetables regularly go from the Jail Garden to Stepping Stones: apples, cabbage, onions, beans, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, summer and winter squash, peppers, broccoli, pumpkins, and kale. The garden also produces a steady supply of flowers, such as the zinnias that were in full bloom on the day I visited.
Pyka said that about 20 inmates sign up to work in the garden throughout the year, including a number who work every day when supervisors are available. She also noted that the program seems rare among other county jails in Wisconsin, and has had other counties inquiring about Dunn County’s program.
Claudia Manning is one of the supervisors overseeing inmates at work in the garden. She said, “I learned of jail gardens in a seminar, specifically in Rock County, WI.” She brought the idea back to Dunn County and has been associated with the program ever since.
The Dunn Community Jail Garden is behind the Judicial Center building at the corner of Hwys 12/29 and Stokke Parkway in Menomonie. About an acre in size, it has multiple garden beds, all mulched with heavy black plastic, and is surrounded by a deer-proof fence.
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