Healthy Food Starts with Healthy Soil: How Grow Education Brings Soil Science to Life in School Gardens

Our Grow Education Program centers around understanding and nurturing soil health through hands-on learning in local school gardens, where students learn to see themselves as stewards of the land. This journey into soil science not only supports thriving gardens but also teaches valuable lessons about sustainability, food production, and environmental stewardship.
Each fall, students and staff from over 23 schools take part in a crucial step toward garden health: soil sampling. Working together, they collect samples from over 125 raised beds and send them to Logan Labs, where their soil samples undergo comprehensive testing. This analysis gives our Grow Education team data on essential minerals and organic matter levels, helping them design a customized soil amendment plan that spans the entire year.

Soil testing offers a roadmap for balancing nutrients in the soil, which often includes adding minerals as needed and incorporating compost. This organic compost supports a sustainable cycle of nutrition and improves the soil’s structure, water retention, and overall health—an essential foundation for healthy plants and, in turn, healthy food.

As winter approaches, we plant a cover crop mix of oats, peas, and vetch in each raised bed. These cover crops do more than just protect the soil; they add nitrogen and other nutrients while helping to prevent erosion, maintain soil structure, and suppress weeds. By early spring, the cover crops are tilled back into the soil, enriching it for the next growing season.

In addition to cover cropping, crop rotation is another key component of our soil management. Each spring, we carefully plan crop placement to balance nutrient demands and prevent soil depletion. This rotation strategy, along with amendments, composting, and cover crops, forms the backbone of our fertility management plan.

Healthy soil is fundamental to our mission of growing not only abundant gardens but also empowered, knowledgeable students who appreciate the complexities of our food systems. Through their work in the garden, they see firsthand how soil health impacts the entire ecosystem and, ultimately, the food on their plates. Marion Institute’s Grow Education Program is planting seeds of change—one garden bed, one soil sample, and one student at a time.