The inmate farm crew at the Bossier Sheriff's Office Corrections Facilities has harvested more than 38,000 pounds food grown by the inmates themselves.

So far this year, they've picked more than 16,000 pounds of squash, 3,600 pounds of potatoes and 3,500 pounds of cucumbers, along with 1,800 ears of corn, 500 cantaloupes and 200 watermelons.

The crew is nearly finished picking other crops and has yielded more than 12,000 pounds of tomatoes, 900 pounds of okra and 170 pounds of peppers. The inmates also planted purple hull peas twice this growing season, but there will be no yield because of the excessive amount of rain that washed out the crops.

The 'Pea Farm' where the vegetables are grown is located on about 30 acres of land near the Bossier Minimum Security Facility and has been in operation since 1995. Non-violent offenders break the ground, sow the seeds, irrigate and work the fields and harvest the food, which they and other inmates will eat.

In addition to the food supplement, having inmates work to grow their own food keeps them active.

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