CHOCOWINITY — Nine students from the Beaufort County 4-H Club at Raised in a Barn Farm celebrated Earth Day last week. The students, along with a handful of volunteers from U.S. Cellular, worked together to plant raised flowerbeds and spent some time with the animals on the farm. The event was in partnership with U.S. Cellular’s annual “Month of Giving” program, which is a nationwide campaign to encourage volunteer hours among employees, as well as a way for 4-H students to learn more about the outdoors.

Jane Boahn, owner of Raised in a Barn Farm, said the children planted a “pizza garden,” including herbs, tomatoes and bell peppers, or what one might call pizza toppings. She said they were able to explain to the group how to plant the herbs and vegetables properly and tell them why they were planted this way.

Erin Massie, Beaufort County 4-H Extension agent, said she was happy to see the U.S. Cellular volunteers stick around to interact with the students. “They really played with the kids. … They didn’t just come and stay for 10 minutes,” Massie said. “They all learned a little bit.”