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Students harvest sweet potatoes at Gulfside Elementary

 
Second-graders Domonic Brown, left, and Aidan Meagher, right,  harvest sweet potatoes in the school garden at Gulf Elementary in Holiday.
Second-graders Domonic Brown, left, and Aidan Meagher, right, harvest sweet potatoes in the school garden at Gulf Elementary in Holiday.
Published Sept. 17, 2014

HOLIDAY — It was harvest day at Gulfside Elementary School, and second- and third-grade students were mightily excited to be pulling sweet potatoes planted in the raised garden beds in May.

"They went right through those sweet potatoes. It was like a bunch of ants running around. It was great," said master gardener Bob O'Brien, 65, who came with a handful of green-thumbed volunteers to show students how to pull the vines.

"It's awesome — we got a big one," said Kiyah Cooper, 7, who along with classmate Leighlanni Cruz, 7, ended up with a whopper of a spud weighing in at 5 1/2 pounds.

The garden, in its fourth year, is the product of a nutritional education program that brings together master gardeners, retired chefs, students and teachers. It is funded in part by a grant from the American Culinary Federation's "Chefs Move to Schools" program.

At Gulfside, three times a year, second- and third-grade students plant and harvest vegetables under the guidance of master gardeners. For fall, students will sow lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Then cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli will be planted in the winter.

After a brief lesson on good nutrition and the importance of eating lots of vegetables and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, volunteer chefs Vince Blancato, 65, and Ray Benton, 75, will cook and serve those veggies in the school cafeteria. That means a homegrown salad will be on the menu one day in late October. Coleslaw will be served after the winter break.

As for the sweet potatoes, those were set to be roasted and offered to all students as an added lunchtime side dish in the school cafeteria.

"We're going to wash them and peel them," Benton said. "Then we'll cook them with oil, salt and pepper, and a little cinnamon, so they should like it."

Michele Miller can be reached at mmiller@tampabay.com or (727) 869-6251. Follow @mimichele525.