The annual summer vacation from school is here. Yippee! Swimming, reading books and spending time with friends are some of the classic activities that make summer great. Of course, it’s always good to try something new right? A few simple activities involving plants and gardening can be a great, growing experience. Hooray!

A few of the easiest projects begin at the grocery store. Most times, the fruit that you bring home is also a potential new plant. For the first activity, all you need is a small pot, four to six inches around with drainage holes in the bottom. Fill this with sterilized potting soil and water it so that the soil will settle some.

Press four to five seeds from an orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit or other citrus fruit into the soil about an inch down. Water once again, and cover the pot with a large plastic bag to create a small greenhouse. Keep the bag closed most of the time, occasionally opening it to peek in and to give it some fresh air.

The pot should be placed in a window that gets at least 6 hours of bright sun a day. The soil has to stay moist, and in five or six weeks you should see seedlings or sprouts. After most of the seed has germinated, take the plastic bag off and continue to water when dry.

In time, these can be planted into bigger pots, outdoors. In winter, protect citrus from freezes by bringing them indoors, into a greenhouse or other warm place. Eventually the plants will become a tree with deliciously fragrant blooms and mouth-watering fruit. Yummy!

How about sweet potatoes? For many of us, this will certainly bring back memories of our own growing experiences. Stick four to five toothpicks into the sides of the sweet potato about a third of the way down. Place the potato into a glass or jar of water, making sure that about half of it is covered with water. The glass should be kept on a window sill.

Check the potato every day and add water to replace any that has evaporated. In just a few days, roots will begin to grow from the bottom and at about the same time, buds will appear on the top. In about a month the jar will be full of white roots and the window will be covered in sweet potato vines. As this one grows for the next few weeks it will eventually become too overgrown for the window. But guess what? Another awaits you at the grocery store.

The next time that you’re going to make guacamole, save the pits from the avocados. Fill a glass or jar with water, following the same instructions for the sweet potato. This time stick three toothpicks around the outside of each pit with the pointed side up. Place it in a sunny window adding water as any evaporates.

In about three weeks, the pit should produce a long root growing in the water. The top will begin to split open, and a green stalk will start to grow. When it grows to about six inches tall, remove the plant from the water and pot it into a six inch pot. Place it inside in a sunny window or outside in an area with several hours of sun per day.

Keep the soil moist and when the plant reaches one foot in height, pinch off about two inches off the top. This will encourage the plant to form more branches. In a couple of years you could have a 6-foot avocado tree. Wow!

How about growing your own pineapple plant? It’s easy. Pick up a pineapple at the store, looking for one with the best looking leaves at the top. Cut the fruit about one inch below where the leaves stop and the fruit starts. Place the top, leaf side up, into a tray or bowl with enough water to cover the skin of the pineapple. Do not cover the leaves. Place this in a bright, sunny window.

Be patient, and in a couple of weeks you should see roots begin to develop. Fill a six to eight inch pot with potting soil, burying the skin part with the roots, under the surface. This means that the leaves will be above the soil surface. Keep the plant in a bright, sunny location and water into the middle of the leaves once a week. Mist the plant each day with a squirt bottle filled with water. In a few weeks, the plant should begin to show signs of new growth. In two or three years, the plant may produce a new pineapple. Neat!

Make your next trip to the grocery store an adventure in teaching children to discover the wonderful world of plants. And what better way to begin, than with the food we eat.

Gardening Miss-Lou Style is a weekly column written by Traci Maier of Natchez. She can be reached at Fred’s Greenhouse at 445-5181 or by e-mail at ratmaier@iamerica.net