Col. Mitchell Paige Middle School students will plant their own produce in their new community garden this year.

Work on the 2,400-square-foot garden at the northeast edge of the school started last week.

A John Deere tractor turned up grass on the lawn, and 15 students from the school's Garden Club pulled out the grass with their hands.

It is going to be hard work, but the garden is going to be worth it, said eighth-grader Kristie Jones, 12, as she held chunks of dead grass in her hands.

“This is a good way for us to be healthy because we are growing our own fruits and vegetables,” the Garden Club member said.

The students will grow dates, lemons, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes and cauliflower. And in the spring they will get to enjoy a meal from their harvest, said Janet Jonasson, Garden Club faculty adviser.

It will take four weeks to prepare the grounds and install an underground watering system, Jonasson said.

Garden Club members will plant the seeds and will take turns weeding and raking the garden after school.

“I want the students to see where their food comes from so that they can someday be involved in it themselves and also support local farmers,” Jonasson said.

Jonasson said she was approached with the idea in the spring by Patti Patane, the producer and host of “Coachella Valley Homegrown,” a local television show that reports on the Valley's agricultural industry.

Patane said she helped Jonasson apply for a $1,500 Western Growers Association grant for garden supplies, which they received in August. She also connected her with local farmers and agricultural businesses that donated their seeds and services to the community garden.

“I think these kids will get a feel for how work is done in this important industry in the Coachella Valley,” said regional sales manager John Robey, who brought the John Deere tractor from tractor company RDO Equipment in Indio.

In the long run, the school wants to work with the school district to have the garden's produce distributed in cafeterias, Principal Derrick Lawson said.