A John Deere Publication

Group examining plants in a garden, with one person pointing at leaves.

Members of the Marshall-Putnam Counties 4-H spin club, Learn-Grow-Share, examine beneficial insects with their leader Bethany Salisbury during a Tuesday evening harvest last August.

Agriculture, Education January 01, 2026

Teaching Through Tomatoes

4-H members learn to grow and give.

Story and Photos by Katie Knapp

"What is that?" The question comes from one of the boys crouched by a garden bed, staring at something crawling across a leaf. "Oh, that's a wheelback assassin bug," 4-H leader Bethany Salisbury responds. "He's a good guy—he'll eat the squash bugs!"

Moments like these are exactly what Bethany was hoping for when she applied for an Illinois Master Gardener 'Know More Grow More' grant two years ago and asked to plant a teaching garden in her church's yard.

Bethany Salisbury of rural Henry, Ill., is passionate about food security. "It's always been my mission to make sure people have food. What better way to do that than teach the kids to garden?"

With additional funding from the local Marshall-Putnam Counties Extension, matching corporate donations, and a soil donation from the city, Bethany started the Learn-Grow-Share 4-H spin club with her mother, Bettyann Harrison, who is also the county Master Gardener coordinator.

"We spend a couple months in the classroom, where the kids learn the difference between weeds and plants, about soil health and composting, and about the life cycle of different insects," Bettyann explains. "Then we meet every Tuesday through the growing season to tend to the garden. Each person also has a day to water during the week."

The club has had about 10 members participate from across the two-county unit each year.

"I'm having a blast with this year's group because they just dive right in," Bethany said during a mid-summer harvest night. By that point in the season, she was able to "turn them loose a little more because they were getting better at deciding what was ready to pick."

Each year, the kids also can exhibit what they grow at the 4-H Show, practice public speaking at community events, and learn how to cook and preserve the produce.

Above. Weekly harvests averaged 50-60 pounds during 2025's peak growing season, with tomatoes providing the highest yields. After stocking the Blessing Box, the kids also arranged bouquets for the nursing home each week.

The bulk of the vegetables and flowers harvested every week is donated to the community through a Blessing Box one of the members made for his woodworking project.

Similar to a Little Free Library or Parking Lot Pantry that might be stocked with non-perishables or other temporary assistance supplies, their Blessing Box is easily accessed 24/7 outside the church where the garden is.

"I wanted to do more than just teach the kids to garden," Bethany says. "I had not seen a Blessing Box done with fresh produce before, but it is really working."

Last summer, the 4-Hers harvested every Tuesday night at six o'clock. By 7:15, Bethany says, cars would start rolling in.

"They figured out when we stock the box, and most of it was gone by the next morning," she says. "It's amazing."

The club donated more than 700 pounds of produce the first year. In 2025, they expanded the number of garden beds and also grew fall crops. They split the increased harvest between the original box at the church in Marshall County and a second at a bank in Putnam County.

Henry United Methodist Church Pastor Will Meachum believes the spin club's Blessing Box works for a few reasons. One is anonymity.

"I know there's shame in going to the food pantry for some families," Pastor Meachum explains. "Some families who qualify just don't go. But this—they don't have to show ID. They don't have to talk to anyone. They can just pull up and take what they need."

Henry, a town of about 2,300 people, has a well-resourced food pantry, but Bethany and her club wanted the produce to be available for people who also didn't have access to the food pantry.

Feeding America's latest statistics show 13% of Marshall and Putnam counties' residents were food insecure in 2023. Of those, only half qualify for SNAP benefits.

Pastor Meachum sees the need daily from his church office. "We're surrounded by farmland, and yet the nutritional options for people in rural America are not easily available or affordable."

The club's goal for 2026 is to have a larger, refrigerated Blessing Box so they can offer a wider array of produce. ‡