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Garden project plans weekly vegetable sale

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

RECAP worker Catlin Wiese picks corn in the Rock County Community Garden. Along with an open house set for Wednesday, Aug. 1, the RECAP Garden hosts weekly vegetable sales at its location on Highway 14 near Janesville.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

RECAP workers, from left, Carol Greene, Ellen Gravert and Chelsea Kosier, clean dry skin from onions in preparation for the RECAP Market.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Market facilitator Deb Grams, left, and volunteer Bev Drew, get the RECAP Market ready to open.

Three women sat cross-legged on the blacktop in the July heat.

One sorted a 5-gallon bucket of freshly laundered work gloves. The other two peeled the skins from white onions.

They made it look like fun.

The shining white onions joined the pile of colorful produce in the first open-to-the-public RECAP garden produce sale.

The Rock County Education and Criminal Addictions Program offers addiction counseling, anger-management classes, academic support, job-skills training and more to qualified inmates.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to buy next year's seeds and gardening equipment, said RECAP site supervisor Jason O'Connor.

"The goal is not to make money but to have the garden be self-sustaining," O'Connor said.

The sale will not impact the produce the program donates to the Salvation Army, ECHO, Rock Haven and meal programs for seniors in the county.

So far this year, inmates have put in 2,000 labor hours at the garden. Last year, they donated 700 pounds of produce to ECHO, volunteer garden coordinator Jim Haseman said.

The garden also plans to host an open house Aug. 1, which will feature tours and samples of fresh produce.

IF YOU GO

Weekly vegetable sale

What: Vegetable sale from the RECAP Garden

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays through the end of the growing season.

Where: The tan building behind the Rock County Youth Services Center, 210 E. Highway 14, Janesville.

Details: Proceeds will be used to buy seeds and equipment for the garden, which is tended by participants in the Rock County Education and Criminal Addictions Program. The public is welcome.

To help out: The RECAP program welcomes cash donations to be used for seeds and equipment. Checks can be made out to "RECAP Gardening Program" and mailed to the Rock County Sheriff's Office, Attn: Sgt. Jason Harding, 200 E. Highway 14, Janesville, WI 53545.

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Open House

What: RECAP garden open house

When: 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1.

Where: The garden is located directly east of the Rock County Youth Services Center, 210 E. Highway 14, Janesville. Drive behind the youth services facility and park on the access road next to the community garden. The RECAP garden is located along Highway 14. The smaller plots are rented by private individuals and are not open for tours.

Details: Tour the 1.2-acre garden tended by RECAP participants. The gardens include vegetables, grains and flowers. Taste samples of fresh produce.