“Can anyone tell me what plant has a stem that we eat?”

The kids seemed stumped. They could answer the plants that we eat the root and the plants that we eat seeds, but a stem?

It was part of a lesson from Cent$ible Nutrition, a program through the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension. The Paradise Valley Club visits the extension building once a week during the summer to learn about plants, gardening, and making good food choices.

Members spent part of their time in the garden learning the importance of weeding.

Once the soil was free of weeds, the kids each planted an onion.

They will check the progress of the onion’s growth over the summer and learn what it takes to successfully grow a plant from bulb to harvest.

During another lesson, they learned about germs and the importance of washing your hands especially before and after handling food.

To round out the visit, the kids used the stem of a plant to make a healthy snack. The extension educators demonstrated how to make an edible butterfly using celery (the stem of a plant), peanut butter yogurt sauce, pretzels and raisins, while explaining the role of a butterfly in pollination.