Students in garden club at T.A. Edison Elementary School harvested a special crop from their schoolyard garden on Thursday—peanuts!

In May, before school let out for summer, students in garden club planted sweet potatoes and peanuts, both of which are good summer crops for Schoolyard Gardens. The students removed the shells from the raw peanuts, provided by KCCG, before planting them in rows in half of one of their raised beds. Once they were ready to harvest in September, students gently pulled the plants up from the ground to find peanuts attached to the end of the stalks. They diligently removed the peanuts from the plants, and turned the soil, looking for more peanuts that had been left behind in the ground. By the end of the harvest, the students had three food-safe produce bags full of peanuts!

The schoolyard garden at T.A. Edison was built last August by students. To be included in the after school garden club program, students submit applications to Ms. Keltner explaining why they want to work in the school garden.

“The kids have taken ownership of the garden,” Ms. Keltner said last year. “After they built it, they thought ‘This is mine.’”

After allowing the peanuts to dry out, Ms. Keltner hopes to roast them and make peanut butter for the students to enjoy!