Gardener reaps seeds in online quiz

Shanika Hewitt has never even eaten a turnip, but thanks to that favorite of Southern grandmothers, she'll be on the receiving end of a year's worth of vegetable seeds.





Shanika, of Shreveport, was named the winner in a contest sponsored by Mike the Gardener Enterprises of New Jersey.

More than 14,600 people took the online quiz about turnips and Shanika came out on top, even though she admits she guessed at most of the answers.

But those seeds couldn't be landing in a better mailbox.

Shanika, who has five children, planted her first vegetable garden last year.

"I was trying to get them to eat more vegetables," she said. "I was reading online and I didn't like things about what we ate, so I decided to try growing my own to make sure everything was organic."

In her small front yard, she planted lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, basil, cilantro and cauliflower and was thrilled with the results on everything except the tomatoes, which were planted too late to produce.

"Everything I learned was off the Internet," she said.

"Next time I'll know when to plant everything."

She's already received her first batch of seeds — lettuce, spinach, cucumber and basil.

"I just think it's great, growing your own vegetables. You just walk out. Everything we have is so fresh."