A group of Coupeville Elementary students who’ve gotten dirt under their fingernails discovered they also have green thumbs.

Christy Chapman, media center coordinator at the school, and Bethany Hopkins of the Navy’s SAFE program, put together a new after-school Coupeville Elementary Garden Club this year to turn students into happy little gardeners.

Chapman said kids and gardens go together perfectly. “I know kids love gardening,” she said, “and love to be outside.”

This spring, students planted a vegetable garden on the side of the school. Each week a group of elementary kids and SAFE kids tend to the gardens.

They all seem very excited about the work on a recent sun-shiny day. They worked together to pull weeds, thin the plants and lug around watering cans to sprinkle the beds.

“You get to eat them after they grow,” said 8-year-old Marisa Etzell.

“I like to water and I like to eat the carrots,” said 9-year-old Emily Metlow. “They’re my favorite vegetable.”

It’s truly a community project. Chapman said the class gets plenty of help from Coupeville Garden Club members, who act as the children’s mentors. Jeno Young, Patricia Johnson and Gail Bullock talk to the kids about gardening and show how to do it.

Sally’s Garden donated the boards for the beds and gave the club deep discounts on plants. Last month the club took a field trip to Rosehip Garden.

Chapman also said the school administration made the club happen, even if it wasn’t originally in the budget. Principal Glenda Merwine saw the value in the idea and supported it.

In addition to the vegetable garden, Chapman said the class is also working on a “campus beautification project” in the landscaping around the school. The kids were thrilled to learn that they could dig up old perennials, divide them and plant them around the campus.

All the efforts are paying off. The tomatoes plants are giant. The corn, beans, peas, carrots, gourds, zucchini and other veggies are growing like weeds.

Chapman said summer school kids will continue tending the gardens into next school year, when the kids can harvest the zucchini and bird-house gourds.

She hopes the club will inspire more kids to garden at their own homes.

“I like to watch the plants grow and I enjoy eating them,” said 8-year-old Nathaniel Martin. “They’re better when they are organic and they don’t have the stuff that kills the bugs off.”