What started as a neglected garden space at DeSoto Grade School is now becoming one of the most exciting learning environments in the building. Thanks to a partnership between the school and the nonprofit So ILL Veggies, students from Pre-K through eighth grade are learning about food, science, and community through hands-on gardening experiences.

The opportunity began when members of So ILL Veggies noticed that the school’s garden had fallen into disrepair after the teachers who originally cared for it moved on. Rather than letting the space fade away, the organization reached out with an idea.

Jamie Perryman, CEO of So ILL Veggies, said the situation is common in schools. Teachers often create meaningful programs, but when those educators leave, the work can disappear with them. By stepping in, the nonprofit hoped to revive the garden while building something sustainable for students.

School leaders immediately saw the potential. Superintendent Doug Corzine explained that the district welcomed the partnership because it offered both practical help and educational opportunities. “We immediately thought it was a great idea to have the help to clean up everything and make it look nicer,” Corzine said, adding that the real excitement came from the chance “to integrate it with classrooms and have kids involved.”

The nonprofit itself grew out of a long friendship between Perryman and Jacob Miller, the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. Both men grew up in DeSoto, and Miller spent nearly a decade in California running agricultural programs connected to low-income housing communities. When he returned home, the two began talking about bringing similar ideas to Southern Illinois.

“You see a lot of these programs in other parts of the country,” Perryman said, “but we don’t always have those opportunities here in Southern Illinois.”

Today, the garden is already influencing learning across the school. Outside, raised beds allow students to grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Inside the building, two special education classrooms maintain indoor garden beds under grow lights so students can grow crops year-round.

Principal Kelly Taylor said the program is reaching more students than many people realize. “This is not just reaching our junior high students,” she explained. “We have programming for third grade and up, our special education classrooms have garden beds in their classrooms, and even some of our younger students have participated.”

One popular activity is called Grow by the Foot. Third- through fifth-grade students are each responsible for a square foot of garden space that they plant, maintain, and harvest themselves. At the end of the growing cycle, students gather for a shared meal featuring vegetables they helped produce.

The school has also introduced an indoor hydroponic grow tower where lettuce and greens are grown for the school’s salad bar and summer meal program. Taylor said the school has “kind of dipped our toe into serving the crops at lunch,” giving students the chance to see their work appear on the menu.

For Miller, the program is ultimately about connection. “The most important thing for us is getting kids in the soil and connected with their food,” he explained.

The program continues to expand. A junior high garden club will soon help manage the school’s greenhouse and assist with garden projects across the building. The greenhouse itself was made possible through support from the school’s PTO and education foundation, while seeds and supplies have come from donations and local partners, including the Jackson County Farm Bureau.

Looking ahead, the district is thinking even bigger. The school recently purchased thirteen acres of farmland next to the campus, land that could eventually expand the garden program and possibly support a community garden.

For Perryman, the work is about restoring knowledge that once came naturally through families and communities. “These are lessons that used to be passed down from parents and grandparents,” he said, noting that many children today are disconnected from how food is grown.

Miller believes the goal is simple: help students leave school with practical knowledge and confidence. “The long-term vision is that every student who goes through our programming leaves empowered and with the skill set to grow their own food,” he said.

Those interested in learning more about the nonprofit can visit https://soillveggies.org/. Updates and photos of the garden program can also be found on the DeSoto school district’s Facebook page.

For the students planting seeds, harvesting vegetables, and discovering the science of growing food, the lessons in DeSoto’s garden are already taking root—one plant, and one young gardener, at a time.