By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Thomas More Prep-Marian Garden Club picked beans, onions, tomatoes and carrots Wednesday during its first harvest.
Spanish teacher Melissa Pinkney brought the idea of creating a garden on the TMP grounds to administrators last year. A group of students, along with math teacher Randy Brull, planted crops last spring.
“I really like gardening,” Pinkney said. “I think it is important for kids to know where their food comes from.”
Brull, Pinkney and some of their family members helped keep the garden going during the summer. A few weeks ago, Brull harvested potatoes that went to the St. Joseph Catholic Church food pantry. Students this fall will be able to have first pick of the vegetables and the rest will go to the food pantry.
On Wednesday, the students also planted a fall crop of turnips, which should be ready to harvest in October.
Randy Brull’s granddaughter, Maggie, an eighth-grader at TMP, is among the club members.
“He has a garden at his house, and he has been showing me,” she said. “He always tries to get me to pick vegetables. I decided I might as well be productive and help with the school garden.”
Gabe Rupp, freshman, also has helped with a garden at home. He said he likes to cook, especially with fresh peppers and onions.
“I felt as a freshman, I should be involved,” he said. “I thought of Garden Club as a possible club.”
Brull remembers when he was young he thought spinach was something dark green and slimy that came from a can.
“I hope when they can get some of this home and on the table, they will realize how good tasting that vegetables can be,” he said.
Brull said some of the lessons that can be taught in the garden are not about plants.
“The biggest thing is that I hope they would learn from this is that a lot of good things don’t happen all at once,” Brull said. “A lot of good things happen a little bit at a time. Plan ahead, get things started. Sometimes weeks and months and years go by and you come back and you have something good. It can be very satisfying. It works in the garden, and it works in studying too.”