Spring Sprouts Page 3

  At the next meeting the Scouts shared their scrapbooks. Mrs. Peters talked more about vitamins and nutrition.

  Roger did not smell bad anymore. He went up to Rachel and told her a private joke. “What did the ghost eat for breakfast?” he asked.

  When Rachel shook her head, he said, “Scream of wheat!”

  Rachel laughed hard.

  “Now,” said Mrs. Peters. “All you need for your badge is to bring something from your garden.”

  “I am going to get my badge next week,” said Rachel after the meeting.

  Molly didn’t answer. She was hoping her garden had grown.

  At home, Molly sprinkled some fertilizer on her radishes. She weeded them and talked to them and gave them more water.

  “Grow, little radishes,” she said.

  The plants were getting tall. Tall and green. They looked healthy. But Molly couldn’t find any radishes on them. Not a single one.

  On the way to Mrs. Peters’s house, Rachel carried a plastic bag. A red radish was in the bag. Big and red. She held it up. “From my very own garden!” said Rachel.

  Molly wanted to grab the bag and hide it. Or grab it and take the big radish for her own. It was the biggest radish Molly had ever seen. Huge. Round like a ball.

  “Look, Mrs. Peters!” called Rachel as they went into the house.

  “Boys and girls, look at this!” said Mrs. Peters. “It looks like Rachel is the first one to get her new badge! She has a green thumb.”

  Mrs. Peters got out her camera. She took a picture of Rachel with her big radish. Then she gave Rachel a badge. It said EAT RIGHT on it. In the middle was a big orange carrot. With green leaves.

  Molly thought Rachel should help her out. She had tried to help Rachel at the dairy farm. Rachel should help Molly make her garden grow! Fair is fair.

  But Rachel didn’t help. And the next Tuesday all the Scouts brought something from their garden. Even Tim. Tim had a little baby carrot. But it was enough for him to get his badge.

  Mrs. Peters passed out badges to everyone.

  To everyone but Molly.

  “Are you watering your garden every day, Molly?” asked Mrs. Peters.

  Molly just nodded.

  Soon it was time to sing the Pee Wee Scout song.

  And say the Pee Wee Scout pledge.

  Molly stood in the circle, but she didn’t sing or speak. She just moved her lips. Sometimes it was very hard to be a good Scout.

  When she got home, Molly went into the kitchen for a glass of milk. Mrs. Duff was not home yet.

  Molly saw something on the counter. It was a little plastic bag with radishes in it! From the grocery store.

  Molly looked at them. Round, clean, red radishes. She could take one. She could take one to Scouts and tell Mrs. Peters it was from her garden. Her mom wouldn’t know. She didn’t count radishes. She just sliced them into the salad.

  Molly stared at the bag.

  But just as she was about to tear the bag open, her mother came into the kitchen. She thought Molly wanted a vegetable for a snack! “Pretty soon you’ll be eating things out of your own garden,” said Mrs. Duff. “Won’t that be wonderful?”

  Molly popped the radish into her mouth. She made a face. It was hot! Radishes were spicy. “Oh, oh!” she said, and she spit it out into the sink.

  “Just take one small bite next time,” said Mrs. Duff, washing the radishes. She put them in a glass of cold water. “Water makes them crisp,” she said.

  “I hate radishes!” cried Molly. “They’re dumb!”

  Mrs. Duff looked surprised as Molly ran out of the kitchen.

  It’s a Monster!

  “What vegetable has vitamin A and is good for your eyes?” asked Roger at the Pee Wee Scout meeting on Tuesday.

  “Broccoli,” said Mary Beth.

  “Beans?” said Kenny.

  Roger shook his head. “Give up?”

  “Peaches?” said Tim.

  “Ho, ho,” said Roger.

  “Peaches are fruit,” said Rachel.

  “Give up? Give up?” Roger jumped up and down.

  The Pee Wees gave up.

  “Carrots!” blurted out Roger proudly. “You never saw Bugs Bunny with glasses on, did you?”

  The Scouts groaned.

  “That’s a good nutrition joke, Roger,” said Mrs. Peters, laughing.

  “Thank you,” said Roger.

  All the Pee Wees were wearing their new EAT RIGHT badges.

  All except Molly.

  “Any good deeds to report this week?” asked Mrs. Peters.

  Hands went up.

  “How come you don’t have your badge yet?” whispered Lisa to Molly.

  “I don’t want one,” Molly lied.

  “You do too,” said Mary Beth. “You must have radishes by now. Did you pull them up and look?”

  “Pull them up?” repeated Molly.

  Mary Beth nodded. “Pull them up and see how big they are,” she said. “Knock the dirt off. Some of mine are real little, but some are big. I had to pull up all of them to find the biggest one.”

  “No kidding?” said Molly. She stood up and said, “I’ll be right back,” to Mrs. Peters.

  Then she ran outside and down the street as fast as she could. She ran to her backyard. To her garden. Then she did what Mary Beth had told her to do.

  She yanked a plant out of the soft dirt. On the bottom of the plant, with lots of dirt still on it, was a giant red radish.

  “Rat’s knees!” Molly said out loud. “No one told me radishes were under the ground! I thought they grew on the branches like little apples!”

  Molly went into the house and washed her radish. She popped it into a plastic bag and ran back to Mrs. Peters’s house. She was all out of breath when she got there.

  The Scouts had finished talking about good deeds. Now they were drawing and cutting something out of paper.

  Molly waved her plastic bag. “Look!” She handed the radish to Mrs. Peters.

  “Oh, Molly! I wondered why you ran off so fast,” Mrs. Peters said.

  “It looks like she got a call from her garden,” said Roger, with a laugh. “An emergency call. Dr. Duff to the rescue!”

  Molly frowned at Roger. She would never let Roger know about her big mistake. That she had radishes all the time and never knew it!

  Mrs. Peters took the radish out of the bag. “Molly, this is the biggest radish I ever saw.”

  Kevin gave a long, low whistle. “It’s a monster!” he said.

  “It’s not fair,” said Tracy. “Molly’s radish was in the ground longer. It had more time to grow.”

  “Well,” said Mrs. Peters, “that was very clever of Molly to let her radishes grow longer. It is the biggest radish in our troop. It may even be a winner at the fair this year. Molly, you have a real green thumb.”

  Molly beamed. She felt good. Mrs. Peters pinned her badge on her Pee Wee Scout kerchief.

  “Molly’s radish was the last one,” said Mrs. Peters. “But it turned out to be the best one.”

  Molly sat down beside Mary Beth.

  “I wish I’d waited longer to pull mine up,” said Mary Beth.

  “Please don’t tell my secret,” said Molly.

  “You can always trust a Pee Wee Scout,” said Mary Beth, with a smile.

  Roger walked over to the girls. “What’s the best thing you can put in a pumpkin pie?”

  “Pumpkin?” said Mary Beth.

  “Your teeth!” said Roger. Then he laughed at his own joke.

  Molly didn’t mind, though. She was glad to have her new badge.

  And she was glad to have friends who were Pee Wee Scouts.

  Be a Pee Wee Scout!

  In Spring Sprouts, the Pee Wee Scouts discover that they have “green thumbs.” That means they are good at taking care of plants.

  Do you have a green thumb, too? Here are some activities to help you find out!

  Start a container vegetable garden.

  Most plants only need fou
r things: sunlight, water, soil, and tender care. You don’t even need a backyard to grow plants of your own. Instead, use a box or another container that you can leave on a porch or windowsill.

  You can buy a container or make one. Almost anything that holds soil will work. It’s a great way to reuse old soda bottles or milk cartons!

  Ask an adult to cut or drill a few holes near the bottom of the container so that extra water can flow out. Then visit a gardening store to buy some seeds.

  Your parents can help you decide which plants will work best for your garden, but plum tomatoes, radishes, zucchini, onions, lettuce, and short types of carrots are good choices. These plants usually grow fast, and they are small enough for most containers. Best of all, your family might be able to make a meal using food you’ve grown all by yourself!

  Press your favorite flowers.

  You can plant flowers in your garden, too. But they may only bloom for a short time. Fortunately, there is a way to enjoy your favorite flowers all year long.

  All you need are a sheet of paper, some heavy books, and a cut flower. If you want to use a flower from someone else’s yard, make sure you ask first!

  Once you have a flower, lay it flat on a sheet of paper. Newspaper works well. Fold the paper over so the flower is totally covered on both the top and the bottom. Now place the covered flower in the middle of a large book such as a dictionary or a phone book. Close the book gently. Then add a few more heavy books on top.

  In only three or four days, you’ll have a dried flower that won’t wilt or lose its color. You can keep it forever. Even better, you can give it as a gift.

  Bug your neighbors!

  Even if you like bugs more than plants, you can still make the world a greener place.

  Some bugs are harmful to gardens. One example is the aphid. Because they eat plants, aphids are pests for gardens.

  Ladybugs, on the other hand, can be a gardener’s best friend. That’s because ladybugs eat aphids and other pesky bugs. So the more ladybugs there are around your neighborhood, the better.

  For that reason, you can actually buy ladybugs online. After you receive your insects in the mail, you can set them free in your yard. Then they’ll be able to help your parents’ or neighbors’ gardens. Who says bugs are icky?

  About the Author

  Judy Delton was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was the author of more than 200 books for children. She was also successful as a teacher, a speaker, and a class clown. Raising a family of four children, she used the same mix of humor and seriousness that she considered important parts of any good story. She died in St. Paul in 2001.

  About the Illustrator

  Alan Tiegreen has illustrated many books for children, including all the Pee Wee Scouts books. He and his wife currently live in Atlanta, Georgia.