Youngstown schools' first 4-H club yields bountiful harvest

YOUNGSTOWN

Braylun Anderson. Ja-Liya Jackson and their classmates gathered the last of the tomatoes, watermelons, strawberries, cabbage and fall flowers from their garden this week, hoeing the earth and preparing it for next year’s crop.

This is the second year the Taft Elementary School 4-H Club, Taft Grows Green, has planted and harvested a garden in a plot across from the school.

“We grew sunflowers, tomatoes, jalapenos and bell peppers,” Braylun, 10, a fifth-grader, said. “It was all good.”

At the height of the vegetable yield, students took vegetables home and made their own creations. Vegetable omelettes were the order of the day at Braylun’s house, and he gave them four stars.

This week, he gathered green tomatoes for a fried green tomato feast at home.

“You just cut them up, put them in some flour and put them in a pan with some grease for a little bit,” Braylun said.

Teacher Laurie McEwan is the 4-H adviser, and eight students participate in the club, the first in the city schools.

Read more about the club and its value to the kids in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.