It is a lesson learned by getting your hands dirty, by planting a seed and watching it grow. It is a lesson in self-sufficiency, giving youths the skills to raise a garden and then harvest its bounty.

That’s what is taking place at the community garden on Talladega’s Tinney Street, where a couple of dozen young people, under the guidance of the Rev. Sherman Green, are learning a lesson that can last them a lifetime.

Green, concerned that the younger generation did not have the skills necessary to feed themselves or to be self sufficient in uncertain economic times, created the garden project at the Christian Diversity Center.

The group of would-be farmers partnered with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service and Coosa Rural Development office and learned not only how to grow a fruitful garden using new, innovative methods, they learned the basics of business and entrepreneurship.

And between February’s planting and this summer’s harvesting, they learned confidence, self-esteem and how to grow a successful business.

The garden has produced an overflow bounty, which the youngsters have sold or given away to those who needed it. And they have earned a paycheck for their work.

There is plenty of learning going on in that garden on Tinney Street. And it’s more than growing a tomato or a bean. It’s a life lesson, and Green and others involved in the teaching should be proud of what has been reaped there.