Mack Lyon Middle School Principal Rod Adams, left, joins students, from left, Logan Karvonen, Dalton Gordon, Keypher Bullock, Tiffanie Belcher (standing), Jordan Morwood, Andrea Leavitt and agriculture teacher Cozette Marshall in the school garden.

By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

Four classes of Mack Lyon Middle School students over the past year have turned a weedy plot of dry desert at the rear of the school into a productive green garden producing several varieties of vegetables.

The garden, currently about 3,600 square feet, occupies a small corner of about two acres at the intersection of Whitmore and W. Thomas streets. Lush green tomato, squash, garlic, onion and cucumber plants run north to south in orderly rows that are spaced just so.

The students have done an excellent job keeping the weeds down despite the fact that weeding is probably their least favorite activity, according to agriculture teacher Cozette Marshall.

“This land had not been worked in a long, long time,” Marshall said. “I was really surprised at how well it has produced. Of course, the weeds are a big problem.”

But weeds or not, with Marshall’s attentive direction the kids have kept the garden producing a steady variety of vegetables that wind up in the school’s culinary class, being sold to other teachers or even finding their way to the Moapa Valley High School (MVHS) Farm on Moapa Valley Boulevard where they’re sold to passersby.

While it’s the agriculture students who keep the vegetables growing and producing, Rod Adams, Mack Lyon principal, said there are many who can share credit for the very existence of the garden, the only one in the Clark County School District.

“Without the help of a lot of different people and organizations, we wouldn’t be able to have and maintain the garden,” Adams said. “Although it’s kind of involved, among others we owe a lot to Kevin O’Toole, manager if the MVHS farm; Scott Millington, water manager for the Moapa Valley Irrigation Co.; the J.R. Simplot Co., and both hardware stores in Overton, (Ace Hardware and True Value Home Hardware).

“The district bought this property (including a small brick house at the rear of the school) five or six years ago with the intention of turning it into a parking lot of some kind,” Adams explained. “Well, because of the budget crunch and everything, improvements were sort of put on a back burner. It wasn’t long before weeds and unwanted brush began to overtake everything.

“Then last summer I visited with Kevin O’Toole at the (MVHS) school farm and he suggested we turn the area into a garden,” the principal continued.

After talking with school district authorities, Adams said he got the go-ahead and in no time the land was cleared and ready for planting.

An irrigation system using culinary water was donated by the local hardware stores. It quickly became an important part of the garden and helped keep things growing. Unfortunately, Adams said the cost of the water just as quickly became an issue.

He said he eventually spoke with Scott Millington at the irrigation company, who jumped right in to help when he learned of the water problem. At Millington’s suggestion, Adams contacted the J.R. Simplot Co., which operates the Simplot Silica Products Mine south of Overton.

“Simplot owns some water share on the irrigation company ditch behind the school and after I spoke with officials at company headquarters in Boise, Idaho, they agreed to allow us to use their water,” Adams continued. “Once we got the go-ahead from Simplot, the irrigation company donated nearly $10,000 in materials and labor to install an irrigation gate and we now have flood irrigation.”

The new irrigation system will allow the school to expand its garden area to the entire two-acre plot, Adams said.

“There are a lot of opportunities that have been made available to us,” Adams said. “We can expand our plantable area and may put in fruit trees, perhaps some desert landscaping.

“Our whole vision is to teach kids about the green earth including the history of Moapa Valley and its connection with irrigation,” he continued. “We’re teaching them about crops, gardening, the difference between flood and drip irrigation and on and on.

“The whole key to his program has been Simplot, the irrigation company and the school farm,” he said. “We really owe them a lot of thanks.”