SEATTLE - When 16-year-old Darvell Maund got caught breaking the law, he was headed for juvenile hall. But he was also given another choice - working in the garden.

He chose the garden - otherwise known as Seattle Youth Garden Works. It's a unique program that helps teenagers - by getting their hands dirty.

And Maund is very happy he made that choice.

"Without this program I'd probably be locked up right now," he says. "Because before this program I was doing a lot of stupid stuff."

When instructors at the Youth Garden Works talk about growing, they're not just talking about plants. They're also talking about the many young people who come there to learn job skills and the survival skills they need for leading productive lives in society.

Half of the teens who come to the program are homeless - the other half, at risk. But the garden gives them an education, skills - and a work ethic.

"Their first concern is survival," says Janice Dilworth, director of the Seattle Youth Garden Works "And so just getting them to show up for work, showing up on time, calling if they can't make it sometimes seems like a huge thing."

Says Maund: "It may sound like ah, dirt, gardening.  It kinda sucks.  But once you start doing it, once you start getting into it, it's really fun."
 
Maund and his fellow gardeners in the program also sell their produce at local farmer's markets. And Maund has discovered that he's a natural born salesman.

"Right at the beginning of the day it's, 'Hello, how are you, you want some salad mix?'" he says.

He talks up the products to customers, and by the end of the morning everything on the table is sold.

"I like talking to them because they're young but they know so much more about gardening than I do," said one customer on a recent morning.

The youth grow zucchini, tomatoes, basil, lettuce and lots of other produce. And they have to be friendly.

Whatever they sell - put's money in their pockets through Seattle Youth Garden Works' profit-sharing program, set up to reward the kids.

But the biggest reward isn't tied up in what they sell or what they grow - it's what they get out of it to apply to their daily lives.

"Hopefully I'll be looking back at my own landscaping business and you guys can look back at this and say, 'He was really looking forward to doing landscaping.  He really thought through everything.'" says Maund.

To learn more about the 12-week long program at Seattle Youth Garden Works, click here.