Morrilton school garden provides fresh greens, hydroponic tomatoes for school lunches
By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Oct. 28, 2025
Fast facts
- School garden grows produce for teachers, students
- Garden to continue as a science project
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MORRILTON, Ark. — Students and teachers at Morrilton Junior High have been enjoying some very fresh produce with their lunches, thanks to a school garden established with the help of the Cooperative Extension Service.
“We began this project three years ago with the Morrilton Junior High School science department,” said Shannon Autrey, Conway County extension agent and a registered and licensed dietitian who specializes in family and consumer sciences.
The project was built out of the now-defunct SNAP-Ed program, which provided nutrition education to those receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The extension service, the outreach arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, delivered SNAP-Ed until the program ended Sept. 30.
Two tabletop hydroponic gardens in the library and four, 6-foot raised beds were relocated from a previous SNAP-Ed project at UA-Community College-Morrilton to the junior high school.
“Students received lessons from the SNAP-Ed School Garden Lesson Plans and made decisions about what to plant in each bed,” Autrey said.
It seems that the students selected their crops wisely.
“We have been able to have several taste tests using the produce from the gardens,” Autrey said. “The students, as well as staff that is present during the summer, especially enjoy having fresh leafy greens to supplement their lunches. Cherry tomatoes grown in the library’s hydroponic gardens are also a favorite.”
The students learn about more than just growing and caring for their crops. They learn the nutritional benefits, too.
“We talked about the micronutrients, all the vitamins and minerals, and how they differ among the things we’re harvesting,” Autrey said. The students also learned “all the different parts of the plant that we eat. Some of them, we eat the roots, some of them we eat the fruit, some of them we’re actually eating the flowers and the stems. We get to talk about all of that and then encourage the kids to take what they learned home.”
Autrey has worked with Jennifer Koch, instructional facilitator at Morrilton Junior High School, and Amanda Johnson, the school’s library/media specialist, to continue the project.
“They have truly been the champions of the garden and ensured it has thrived over the summer while kids were not in school,” Autrey said.
Johnson said, “it’s been a really neat thing to see the kids’ eyes light up when they see tomatoes in the library and actual fruits and vegetables out here.”
In addition to the outside raised beds, the students also care for the hydroponic tomato garden in the library.
“They’re watching it to see when the water levels get low, they’ve taken on the responsibility from me,” she said. “They know what to do.”
Johnson said the school garden has inspired kids to want to grow food in their own gardens.
“We’ve had kids come through the library and say, ‘I need that at home. I need one of those at home,’” Johnson said.
The gardens have also spawned other projects.
After the school received a donation of seeds from Walmart, Autrey said she worked with the students to organize and catalog the seeds.
“The students packaged 100 bags with a variety of vegetable and flower seeds and educational materials and donated them to a local food pantry,” she said. “The MJHS Science Club hosted a booth at our May Farmers Market at the season kick-off, where families could plant sunflowers to take home. They also plan to have a seed library that is available to the public beginning in the fall.”
Two of the students, Ellie Brown and Samuel Henderson, are regulars in the garden.
“I never was originally in science club, and I just kind of joined it towards the middle of the year after I started volunteering to help clean out the flower beds,” Brown said. She stayed with the project because “I've always liked the gardening and planting.
“We get to learn about how the root systems grow, how much sunlight and water and everything needs, and how different plants take to the soil, and how they all differ from each other,” Brown said.
For Henderson, working in the school garden grew out of what was happening at his home.
“We've had the garden since I was in second grade,” he said. At home, his family grows tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers.
“We have pretty much the whole science club” involved, Samuel said. “After school, we have four or five kids out here helping plant, water and switch out soils and stuff.”
Both Brown and Henderson said teachers and students have been able to eat from the garden’s produce, with the harvest feeding 40 to 60 people.
The school garden isn’t going away with the end of SNAP-Ed.
“This year, we were able to retire our original raised beds that were falling apart and replace them with new metal beds,” Autrey said.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu