FORT BENNING, GA - "I just love gardening," said 6-year-old Parker Boone, after pulling weeds from his classroom garden Friday at Dexter Elementary School.

"We planted some onions, sweet potatoes and beets," Parker said. "I'm excited about it growing and eating it. I like sweet potatoes and onions, (but) I never tried beets."

Barbara Culwell, an avid gardener who teaches a multiage class at Dexter Elementary, incorporated gardening into her curriculum three years ago when she started at Dexter.

Taking advantage of the gas-heated greenhouse near the playground, Culwell let her students plant flowers, parsley, sage and other spices. When the kids outgrew their indoor space, Culwell started an outdoor vegetable garden.

The exercise has multiple learning implications, she said.

"A lot of times kids don't necessarily have an interest in things like learning how to use the ruler correctly or how to use the magnifying glass, but if they're looking at something that is meaningful to them, it's easier to teach it that way," she said. "Plus, it develops responsibility in them. If we don't get rain for an extended amount of time, where does their plant get water' We're going to have to remember to do that. It encourages healthy eating also."

Students learn about avoiding waste by sharing extra produce from their garden and making compost with leftover fruits and vegetables from the cafeteria.

"I really want them to see how what they do in the environment can have a direct impact on each one of them," Culwell said.

"If they get used to growing their own vegetables, they're going to take pride in what they grow (and) take less for granted because they're going to remember how much work went into tilling the soil and doing the planting. I want them to make that connection."

Culwell has 23 students in first through third grades. Her oldest student, Lydia Benitez, who has been in her class for three years, has developed a passion for gardening.

"Once I started gardening, I was really, really excited," said 8-year-old Lydia. "I didn't know how plants grew, I didn't know what plants were called, so I learned a lot."

Taking her hands-on learning from Culwell's tutelage, Lydia created her own garden at home, planting peppers, zinnias, cilantro and more.

"I started it about a year ago because I didn't want to have to go to school and just look at the school garden," she said. "I wanted to have a garden I could look at any time, so I could go outside and get whatever I needed. I get tons and tons of harvest. I had these tiny tomato plants and now they're over 9 feet tall. I like to see how my garden has changed and the plants have changed and how big they've grown."

At school, students measure their plants and record the growth.

Many read books about horticulture to learn extra tricks and techniques. When their plants are ripe, they wash them off and eat them in class, sometimes taking home leftovers.

"Even though they're little kids, to be able to take home the top part of an onion they grew - that's a big deal for them," Culwell said.

Culwell plans to expand the garden next year with new types of vegetables, so her students are continually engaged in the learning process.

"We want to learn from what we did in the past - what works, what didn't work - and make next year's garden even better than this year's," she said. "That's my goal."

Meanwhile, Lydia is planning to grow her garden, too.

"I think I'll garden my whole life," she said. "Getting your hands all dirty is what it's all about."