Monday afternoon, two honor-level youth, both age 15 from Tuolomne County, were outside in the garden at Nevada County Juvenile Hall, adding food scraps from the kitchen to the compost pile.

The boy of the duo poured out buckets of discarded vegetables, shredded recycled paper from county offices and coffee grounds from Starbucks and the county’s cafeteria. The girl used a pitchfork to turn the compost. Sometimes, yard trimmings and leaves from the facility’s orchard are also turned into the mix.

“We haven’t had to buy soil for several years,” said Cook Lynn Slay.

The scene stems from events in 2013, when Nevada County Juvenile Hall started a composting project called “Black Gold”. A grant from the Western Growers Association funded the Black Gold project while the hall’s youth inmates built it — the three tiered composting bins, worm bin and 10 raised garden beds. A number of local businesses, gardeners and organizations support the project, including: Nevada City Lions Club, Nevada County Master Gardeners, Weiss Bros. Nursery, Hills Flat Lumber, Crown Tree, DOT and A to Z Hardware.

“I think it’s a good thing, because it’s a life skill, it’s a confidence builder,” said Slay. Youth who have worked up to the honor level get to work with Slay in the kitchen, where they are treated like employees, earning community service credits.

One girl received her food handler’s certificate and a handful of blue ribbons at the county fair for the things she grew: melon sunflowers, zinnias and prepared in the kitchen: jellies and baked goods.

“It makes us feel more like people than like inmates,” she said.

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