In-Prison Programming:
Our Insight Gardens

Land Together works with over 450 participants a year in 9 prisons throughout California, including two medical prisons and both women’s facilities.

Our 48 week program curriculum flows through four arcs of learning:

  • We are all connected.

    An introduction to systems, thinking, and principles of ecology to better understand and strengthen our connections to self, community, and nature.

  • Gardening from the Ground Up

    Permaculture, landscape design, environmental stewardship, food systems - and more, as hands on learning and lessons for living with intention, empathy, and balance.

  • Tending our Inner Gardens

    Drawing from our gardening insights, we turn inward with a focus on mindfulness, creative expression, self care, self management, personal growth, and healing from trauma.

  • Turning Insights into action

    Preparing for reentry, we set goals, build the leadership, advocacy, and life skills needed to make positive changes in our lives, our communities, and the world.

Land Together utilizes an “inner” and “outer” gardening approach that blends eco-literacy, eco-therapy, environmental stewardship, and mindfulness education with hands-on training in permaculture gardening and landscape design. The program also includes personal and professional life skills workshops, with topics ranging from effective communication and conflict resolution to financial literacy and goal-setting. Creative expression is woven throughout as a pathway for self-reflection, healing, and cultural empowerment.

Each of our sites includes a vibrant garden that is co-designed and maintained by participants. Using innovative permaculture, composting*, and water conservation techniques, these gardens become thriving ecosystems, restorative sanctuaries, dynamic living classrooms, and sources of nutritious fruits and vegetables.

*Our compost hubs were funded in part by the Dept of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) through California Climate Investments (CCI) as a part of the Community Composting for Green Spaces (CCGS) grant program, which was facilitated by the California Alliance for Community Composting (CACC) from 2020-2025

Incarcerated people experience some of the highest levels of food insecurity of any population. Most incarcerated people in the U.S. rarely or never have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Land Together advocates for policy and practice changes that improve food security and nutrition by increasing access to produce grown in prison gardens.