Kerry Kress, right, brings the guests of honor (that'd be sweet Cullman County-grown sweet potatoes) by the truckload to Sweet Tater Festival 2019.

Stick a fork in it: it’s almost done. A long-growing measure sponsored by Alabama Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) to make a homegrown favorite the official state vegetable needs only the governor’s approval to become law. 

Gudger’s bill, which has involved the hands-on civic efforts of Madison County homeschool teacher Kristen Smith and her students, passed final approval from the Alabama Legislature this week to designate the sweet potato as the state’s official vegetable. 

The Alabama House voted 84-4 in favor of the bill this week, sending it to Gov. Kay Ivey’s plate for final passage. Alabama has a long list of official state emblems, including an official state fruit, bird, and amphibian. The official state fruit of Alabama is the blackberry. The official tree fruit is the peach. The official crustacean is the brown shrimp. The official amphibian is the Red Hills salamander.

Smith told The Times last year that putting her students in the middle of the lawmaking process has “given these kids a great lesson in how legislation works. If our state government is gonna pass a law about anything — whether it’s the stop sign on your corner, or how to define marriage — this is the process, and no matter what the subject is, it doesn’t change. Thanks to all of this, these students understand that now in a way you just can’t teach.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.