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Outside Time: a personal history of prison farming and gardening
Written by the daughter of a former prison farm manager, OUTSIDE TIME is a fascinating book about the history of prison farming and horticulture in England and Wales. Part-history, part-memoir, OUTSIDE TIME traces the growth, decline and tentative revival of agriculture and horticulture, from the first prison farm at HMP Dartmoor in 1852, to a peak of productivity in the 1990s, when over 1000 prisoners grew enough food to feed the entire prison population three meals a day.
Based on interviews and participants' recollections, OUTSIDE TIME reveals that prisons carried out therapeutic 'care farming' long before it became fashionable. Profitable and rehabilitative, prison farming also saved rare breed livestock from extinction. Now, with only five prison farms remaining, OUTSIDE TIME makes the case for renewed investment in prisoners growing more of the food that they eat to address wider issues of food security and sustainability.
‘OUTSIDE TIME is a vital testament to the extraordinary power of gardening and growing food to heal broken lives’
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, writer, broadcaster & campaigner
‘OUTSIDE TIME is a gem of a book: a history of, tribute to, and eulogy for prison horticulture and agriculture’
Prof. Alison Liebling, Dept. of Criminology, University of Cambridge
‘A really enjoyable read. OUTSIDE TIME is a lesson to all of us about reintroducing ourselves to the land and connecting to nature’
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project
Based on interviews and participants' recollections, OUTSIDE TIME reveals that prisons carried out therapeutic 'care farming' long before it became fashionable. Profitable and rehabilitative, prison farming also saved rare breed livestock from extinction. Now, with only five prison farms remaining, OUTSIDE TIME makes the case for renewed investment in prisoners growing more of the food that they eat to address wider issues of food security and sustainability.
‘OUTSIDE TIME is a vital testament to the extraordinary power of gardening and growing food to heal broken lives’
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, writer, broadcaster & campaigner
‘OUTSIDE TIME is a gem of a book: a history of, tribute to, and eulogy for prison horticulture and agriculture’
Prof. Alison Liebling, Dept. of Criminology, University of Cambridge
‘A really enjoyable read. OUTSIDE TIME is a lesson to all of us about reintroducing ourselves to the land and connecting to nature’
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2017
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