Behind the barbed-wire fences at the medium-security Johnston Correctional Institution near Wilson's Mills, inmates have been hard at work growing food to feed the community.

This summer, about 40 inmates took part in the prison's horticulture program, tending eight vegetable and flower gardens from start to finish.

Offered by Johnston Community College, horticulture is one of several courses that teach inmates personal and life skills to help them land jobs after their release. The college also works with the prison to provide vocational classes in masonry, electrical wiring, food service and heating, air conditioning and refrigeration repair. JCC also offers adult education and GED preparation.

"We're growing peas, squash, corn, tomatoes - foods you find in a typical Southern summer garden - as well as some not-so-typical crops like pineapple and mango," said horticulture teacher Phil Beaumont.

An instructor at the prison for more than 20 years, Beaumont says education is critical to helping inmates learn to be successful citizens. "We teach them how to follow directions, work with a supervisor, be on time and how to work as part of a team," he said. "These classes provide inmates, many of whom have never had a legitimate work experience, an opportunity to develop new skill sets that they can draw on and hopefully become tax-paying citizens."

For years, the horticulture program has donated produce grown by inmates to the Johnston County Council on Aging, Beaumont said. The flowers have gone to beautify other prison grounds and the Governor's Mansion, he added.

"We are helping these individuals become whole people," Beaumont said. "We are really doing a good service for the state."

Last year, the prison got connected with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's Plant a Row project and has donated more than 1,200 pounds of fresh food over the past year.

On a recent spring morning, a handful of inmates smiled as they counted their footsteps and placed squash seeds in the ground. This summer, inmates harvested and delivered their bounty - some 1,000 pounds of cabbage, collards, beets, carrots, potatoes, okra, peppers, tomatoes, squash, peas, beans and corn to the Food Shuttle.

Lindsay Perry, local produce coordinator for the Food Shuttle, said the organization is especially grateful for Johnston Corrrectional, one of the largest donors to Plant a Row.

"Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is so grateful for all the fresh, healthy produce JCI helps to provide to communities in need," Perry said. "What a difference these inmates are making in these communities. It's amazing what giving can do to the soul, and how it can transform a life."