Southeast Correctional Center garden donates 3,000 pounds of produce

FOX23 News at 9 p.m

CHARLESTON, Mo., (KBSI) — The Southeast Correctional Center’s RJO Garden has donated more than 3,000 pounds of fresh produce to local food assistance programs this year.

Produce from the garden is donated weekly to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank and the FISH Food Pantry in Cape Girardeau.

Gardeners are growing several uncommon varieties, including Indian snake cucumbers and North Carolina roaster squash. They have also developed techniques to protect the plants, such as training squash vines to grow up stakes, removing lower leaves to control fungus and creating hammocks to support large vegetables as they grow.