Elementary students harvest vegetables grown as part of wellness class

SAN ANTONIO – Two months of hard work and patience paid off for students at Las Palmas Elementary. Children harvested vegetables on Monday from their campus garden that they planted earlier in the year. 

The students created the garden as part of the school's Learn, Grow, Eat program that operates with the help of personnel from the Texas A&M AgriLife  Extension.

Students planted vegetables, herbs and ornamental plants in the campus' teaching garden. The group spent weeks weeding, watering and working the garden, and on Monday, they harvested tomatoes, potatoes, onions and more.

The idea behind the program to teach kids where food comes from, along with how to prepare it in healthy and delicious ways.

"We've had a lot of kids go home and say they are starting their own gardens with their parents," Las Palmas Elementary School Principal Monica Munoz said. "One of our teachers, saying too, they started in little cups at home, and the kids can turn around and eat their tomatoes they are growing at home."

The AgriLife Extension staff helped the students harvest the fruits and vegetables. The garden will be covered until the next planting.