At his family’s Carson home, Rodger Triplett has grown a bounty of corn, zucchini and pumpkins.

This week, the ninth-grader at Carson High brought his green thumb to the school to help plant a garden behind the campus near 223rd Street that may eventually provide vegetables to the cafeteria.

To go hand-in-hand with the garden, a trade group plans to add a farmers market, the city’s second, later in the month at Carson High to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to the community. The garden and market should offer a nutrition lesson and build school spirit, said Tammy Bird, who teaches ninth-grade science.

“Their lesson in the classroom will have some relevance now,” Bird said. “How many of these kids get down and dirty and put on gloves?”

Students volunteered their time on spring break this week to begin developing the garden in an area that once housed a horticulture program.

Carson’s Mayor Jim Dear, a substitute teacher who accepts assignments at the high school, sees the garden as an object lesson.

“It utilizes the space that’s sitting fallow in a very productive way,” said Dear, who said he cut fresh corn ears for dinner as a child in Ohio. “Not only will it produce good healthy food for the community, it will teach students who get involved about agriculture and horticulture.”

On Tuesday, Triplett worked in the lathe house, a nursery for seedlings before they’re transferred to a greenhouse next door.

As it stands, there are no plants in sight. Cobwebs crisscross the tops of planters. Graffiti (some in the baby blue of the school’s colors) mars the walls, and stacks of empty pots. Images of a clown and “22 cents” have been spray-painted on the wall.

In marked contrast, a nearby school mural offers inspiration from writer Anais Nin: “We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.”

Today, students see reviving the garden as an effort at school pride-building.

“This project’s good for our school,” said Tiaira Hoard, a ninth-grader. “It gives us something to do that’s positive.”

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