Ledyard — Despite the snow and ice outside, the students in the Ledyard High School agricultural science program are thinking ahead to the summer.

Inside the greenhouse behind the horticulture room, students are growing a variety of herb and vegetable plants, some to sell in the department's plant sale and others to grow in the on-campus garden to feed families in need throughout the county.

The plants are just one of three components of the school's FFA Living to Serve Grant project. The grant, which Ledyard has received three other times, is given to FFA chapters and associations to support service-based projects in community safety, health and nutrition, environmental responsibility and community engagement.

This year's grant is $3,000 to support the yearlong project.

Devon O'Keefe, animal science teacher at Ledyard High School, said students have their choice of projects within the four categories based on community needs and, for this year, they chose combating hunger. In previous projects, they have raised turkeys and pigs for meat for local food pantries, and the first grant they received also funded a vegetable garden.

The first garden program produced vegetables to distribute within one town, O'Keefe said, and it went very well. Because 12 towns send students to Ledyard High School for the agri-science program, this year the students wanted to give their produce to the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center to help families in all 12 towns.

Seniors Deniz Kayhan of New London and Annabelle Caswell of Norwich were among the students planting the seeds and tending to the plants for the program. Kayhan said she plans on using her knowledge from this project to improve her family garden at home, and Caswell, who has a flower garden, said she was looking forward to the harvesting at the end.

Horticulture teacher Karolyn Card said the project is getting students from all the department's disciplines involved, and it's helping them become better members of their community. The students will be visiting the school garden throughout the summer to care for the plants and harvest the vegetables for the food center.

The littlest gardeners in town also will have their chance to get their hands dirty, as third-grade classes throughout Ledyard will get a visit from the high school students to learn about growing vegetables. Seniors Aubrey Moser of Ledyard, Alison Saindon of New London and Alyssa Brown of Norwich said they have been meeting weekly to plan their lesson.

Their plan is to use books, games and other activities to introduce the kids to gardening in a fun way, concluding with a seed-planting project so they can continue to learn at home. Brown said they're incorporating a little science in the lesson, as well, and Moser said it's a good way to introduce kids to agriculture at a young age, especially with the opportunities available at the high school.

Saindon said the kids also will learn how to keep a food diary to track what fruits and vegetable they eat to show them the importance of a healthy, balanced diet and how a garden can help them achieve healthy eating goals.

As for everyone else who wants to join in but isn't a student in Ledyard Public Schools, Craig Floyd of Coogan Farm will give a free community lecture at 5:30 p.m. on March 28. His program will focus on utilizing "Mother Nature" in the form of readily available organic compost and other fertilizers to boost soil health and improve crops.

O'Keefe said Floyd has a lot of good tips and tricks that community members can utilize in their own gardens to keep the spirit of the project going.

Community members interested in attending the free presentation can register by calling the school at (860) 464-9600.

a.hutchinson@theday.com