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SALT LAKE CITY — “Where we come from we’ve done a lot of bad things, and here we are, picking peas,” said Jamie Gall, chuckling.
When it comes to eating raw peppers for sale at his booth, Landon Lunt has a recommendation.
“I wouldn’t try the Santa Fes. Those are pretty deadly,” he said.
Gaal, Lunt and their co-inmates from the Salt Lake County Jail grow and sell peppers, basil, kale, blackberries and other produce staples at Pioneer Park’s Farmers Market.
But they also stock Egyptian Walking Onions and French Breakfast Radish.
Lunt helped a woman find bigger radishes to get her money’s worth. But he looks past the gardening aspect.
“I’ve learned a lot, that this could actually be a lucrative business,” Lunt said.
The inmates get a few stares from customers who don’t know them.
“Of course, there’s going to be a stereotype, but really, they treat us with open arms,” Gaal said. “They have a lot of questions about what we’re doing.”
Gaal sees a future through the jail’s Horticulture Program.
“They’re offering us a scholarship program, and to work and do a lot of different things,” Gaal said. He likes opportunities with the Bureau of Land Management.
The jail has 1.5 acres for watering, weeding and harvesting, which the inmates do themselves. Inmates also learn life skills at the Farmers Market.
“I understand the business concept behind it,” Lunt said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity just besides the whole gardening thing.”
You can’t miss the men. They’re dressed in fluorescent green t-shirts, blue sweatpants and bright orange Croc slippers.
They have a stand at the northwest corner of Pioneer Park each Saturday.
