ALPINE, Utah — First they planted. Then tended. Then harvested.Now, they're selling.Members of the Alpine 10th Ward teachers quorum — and some of their friends — are winding up their summer project, "You Reap What You Sow."Glade Tuckett, their adviser, had a 2 1/2-acre plot of land available, so he thought it would be a good project for the young men to find out first-hand how to work for a good purpose.By all accounts, the effort has been successful, with a good harvest that included corn, tomatoes, squash, watermelons, peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupes and pumpkins.As some quorum members loaded corn into a wagon last week, others searched for the remaining watermelons in the field."These things are gi-normous," one young man shouted across the field as he hoisted a large watermelon above his head.Tuckett says plenty of planning took place before the first seeds were planted. The project, initiated as a means of raising money for a super-activity, was organized with times when the young men would work — two to three hours three times a week for each. They signed stewardship contracts committing their time to work, and Tuckett picked them up about 5:45 a.m. to take them to the plot. Each took his turn as the young men prepared the soil, drove the tractor, planted, weeded, watered, sprayed and finally harvested."The boys were very diligent," Tuckett said.Ladd Wadsworth, 16, who was quorum president when the project began but is now a priest, says Tuckett provided breakfast every day they worked, whether it was doughnuts, taking them to his house or the one trip to a restaurant.Tuckett says the effort started with about 15 teachers, but he lost a third of them to birthdays, so the project was opened to other youths in the ward. The young women helped pick corn on Saturdays.The young men used wood from a barn that was to be torn down to build a sales stand on Westfield Road. "The produce came on so quickly that we needed more outlets," Tuckett said. So they found another location in Alpine and one in Highland. On a typical Saturday, they would gross about $300 at the stands, he says. What they didn't sell was taken to the bishop's storehouse.The stand at 1085 Westfield Road in Alpine will be open weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. until Halloween. That one and the others — on state Route 92 across from Kohler's in Highland, and at the junction roundabout in Alpine — will be open Saturday and Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m.Joseph Wadsworth, 14, says he was in charge of three rows of watermelons and watched their progress. During the summer, he worked Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. After school started, he worked Tuesday afternoon, picking corn for an hour then selling for an hour."It was a pretty good project," he said.Brent Johnson, the ward's Young Men's president, said, "It was a neat experience for them to see where food in the grocery store comes from."He says Tuckett had local experts and farmers teach the young men about the elements of farming.In addition, Tuckett says, the young men are earning three Boy Scout merit badges — entrepreneurship, gardening and carpentry.One of the things they have learned is that roaming deer will chomp on pumpkins.Another is how to tell which melons are good."You know they're sweet by the yellow belly," said Jason Gottfredson, 16.And when Tuckett's cell phone rings with an order for 10 dozen ears of corn, Derrick Harris, 14, immediately jumps into the wagon and starts to get them ready for the customer.
E-mail: rwalsh@desnews.com