by Sarah Hartley |

Culinary arts students are getting to work with some of the freshest veggies in town.

For the past few years, the Vocational Preparation classes have grown herbs and peppers for the culinary arts classes.Last month, they planted over nine different herbs and peppers in the school’s greenhouse, including basil, parsley and cayenne peppers.

The amount of time each plant needs to grow differs greatly.

“Some grow faster than others,” Vocational Preparation teacher John Barreca said. “Basil is getting to be about ready. Some of the herbs may take another month or so. The peppers will probably take even longer, maybe another 45 days.”

The two classes will be growing them year-round during first and second hour, unlike the previous two years where they were grown only in the spring and then sold to teachers.

“I enjoy growing them because you get to work with dirt and be outside,” sophomore Austin Whaley said.

Preparation for the gardening includes understanding what makes plants grow, what the different types of plants are and during the sale, interacting with customers and handling money.

“You need to learn how to take care of a plant, how to water properly and not overflow it,” junior Josh Thompson said.

There are benefits to growing the plants, as opposed to buying them from a store.

“When you plant them, you get to control and observe the process of growing them,” Whaley said. “When you buy them from a store, you don’t get to see any of that.”

Some of the students also thought that growing the plants makes them less harmful.

“It’s healthier if you plant them,” Crispin said.

To ensure that the conditions for the plants are perfect, the classes water them every other day. They also clean the greenhouse twice a week, which is located behind the window in the hallway between the 100s and 200s.

This year, the classes are also searching for ways to beautify the greenhouse.

“We’ve asked art classes to paint murals in there,” Barreca said. “And we’re looking to get a pond in there to put fish in.”

Overall, the grennhouse experience benefits everyone.

“It provides the vocational prep students with a chance to learn on-the-job skills that they may not otherwise get a first-hand opportunity to do,” Barreca said.