May 19--PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- WEWAHITCHKA

Wewa students grow, then enjoy vegetables

As Ireland Hamm surveyed the feast resting beneath Wewahitchka Elementary School's outdoor pavilion, several items tempted her taste buds.

There was broccoli with cheese sauce, beans with new potatoes, broccoli and rice casserole, sweet potato souffle, coleslaw, cornbread and chicken fresh from the grill.

Only the dark green mass piled high in a serving bowl proved unappealing. "I thought I wasn't going to like them," she said later of the collard greens. "But I tasted them and they were good."

Call her a collard convert.

Fourth-graders recently proved that kids can enjoy their vegetables, particularly when they have a hand in growing them. The "Seed to Plate" program allows fourth-graders from all of Gulf County's elementary schools to plant a wide variety of vegetables in a school container garden. Before the school year ends, each student will take home an onion and cabbage plant.

"We want to give them a garden experience and show them they can produce vegetables for themselves on a small scale," said Extension director Roy Lee Carter. The program is sponsored by the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Florida A&M University's 1890 program.

Last fall, the students planted seeds in 80 three- to five-gallon containers filled with 90 percent organic mushroom compost. Though they initially divided their gardening chores along gender lines -- boys scooped dirt while girls planted seeds -- the students swapped roles as the season progressed.

Hamm called the rolereversal a disaster.

"None of the girls liked to get dirt under their fingernails," she said. "Only Savannah Lowry liked it because she's a tomboy."

Wewahitchka's three fourth grade classes and one small group of fifth-graders gardened once every two weeks.

The students grew broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, onions, snap beans, strawberries, squash, kohlrabi and four types of greens -- collard, mustard, turnip and kale. The Extension office's Louise Jones prepared all the dishes, which were greeted with nearly universal delight.

Hamm and her classmates pitched in to help churn homemade chocolate and strawberry ice cream for dessert.

Samantha Pitts liked everything but kohlrabi, a vegetable in the cabbage family, which she described as follows: "It tasted like coleslaw without the stuff on it."

PANAMA CITY

Master Gardeners will have plant sale

Bay County Master Gardeners will have a plant sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 30 at the Bay County Fairgrounds on U.S. 98/15th Street in Panama City. All plants are selected for this area and propagated by local Master Gardeners.

For more information, call Ken Rudisill at 784-6105 or come by the Bay County Extension's new office: 2728 E. 14th Street (the old Cedar Grove city hall, one block east of East Avenue and one block south of 15th Street U.S. 98.