Free Spring Sprouts by Judy Delton

Seeds
    “W hat is cowhide used for the most?” Roger White asked Molly Duff.
    Molly sighed. Roger had gotten
Jake’s Joke Book
for his birthday. All he did was ask the Pee Wee Scouts riddles.
    “Shoes,” said Molly. “Cowhide is used for shoes.”
    Roger shook his head. “You don’t know, do you?” he shouted. “Guess again!”
    “Belts,” said Lisa Ronning. “My uncle has a cowhide belt.”
    “Nope,” said Roger.
    “Tepees,” said Sonny Betz. “Tepees are made of cowhide.”
    “No they aren’t,” said Roger. “They’re made of canvas. Or plastic or something.”
    “Not Indian tepees,” said Sonny.
    “Well, that’s not the answer,” said Roger.
    Roger was jumping up and down. “Do you know, Mrs. Peters?” he asked.
    “The main use for cowhide,” said Mrs. Peters slowly, “is to hold a cow together.”
    Roger didn’t laugh. He began to pout. He didn’t like it when someone knew the punch line.
    “I’m sorry,” said Mrs. Peters, with a smile. “But I heard that joke on the radio this morning.”

    The Pee Wee Scouts were in Mrs. Peters’s backyard. It was a hot spring day. The sun poured down on Molly’s head. It made her hair hot.
    “We can get sunburned out here,” said her friend Mary Beth Kelly.
    “I thought it would be fun to have our meeting outside today,” said Mrs. Peters. She was the Pee Wee Scout troop leader. “Winter was so long and cold. Spring feels good. The sun is good for Nick.”
    Nick was Mrs. Peters’s brand-new baby. He was only four months old. He sat in his stroller. The Scouts were giving him rides around the yard.
    “I mentioned the sun,” said Mrs. Peters, “because we are going to talk about vitamins today. And the sun has vitamin D in it.”
    Some of the Scouts groaned.
    “Yuck,” said Tracy Barnes. “I don’tlike vitamins. Vegetables have them. Like spinach.”
    “Vitamins are in lots of things,” said Mrs. Peters. “Lots of good things. Even ice cream.”
    Molly rubbed her stomach. Ice cream would taste good right now, she thought. Cold and creamy. Yum.
    “I’d like to sit in a barrel of ice cream right now,” said Kevin Moe. “Right up to my neck.”
    The Pee Wees laughed. It was a funny thing to picture. Kevin in a tub of ice cream.
    Mrs. Peters walked over to the picnic table. She was carrying a big basket. She dumped it out on the table.
    Ker-plunk.
    Lots of little packages fell out.
    Pop, pop, pop.
    Brightly colored little packages.
    The Scouts looked at the packages.
    Red and green and blue.
    Yellow and pink and lilac.
    Everyone sat down on the benches around the table. Mrs. Peters propped Nick up so he could see.
    “What are they?” asked Tracy. She shook one of the little packages. It sounded noisy. Like little beads were inside.
    Rattle, rattle, rattle.
    “I know what they are,” said Rachel Meyers. “Seeds!”
    “You’re right,” said Mrs. Peters. “They are seeds to plant in gardens.”
    She opened one of the little packages. Little tiny dots were inside.
    “From these little seeds,” said their leader, “come big fat radishes!”
    “How can they?” asked Tim. He looked like he didn’t believe her.
    “That’s nothing,” said Rachel. “A greatbig tree grows from just a little seed.”
    The Pee Wees looked at the tree overhead. It was huge. Little green leaves were coming out. Light-green leaves.
    “That didn’t come from a little seed,” scoffed Tim.
    “Did too,” said Rachel. “Didn’t it, Mrs. Peters?”
    “It came from an acorn,” said Mrs. Peters. “Inside every acorn is a seed that can become an oak tree.”
    Rachel made a face at Tim.
    “But these seeds,” said Mrs. Peters, shaking a package, “are for radishes and carrots. I thought it would be fun for all of you to plant your very own garden while we study vitamins. Spring is the time to plant gardens.”
    “I love to dig in the dirt,” said Sonny.
    “Me too,” said Kenny Baker.
    “My dad plants a garden every spring,”said Rachel.