Carson City residents turn lot into community garden

Two Carson City residents transformed a small city lot into a thriving garden that feeds their neighbors and loved ones.

Jeanne Ross and Mark Theriault live a self-sustaining lifestyle, growing their own food in the backyard of their Carson City home. The pair grows 25 different varieties of fruits and vegetables including cantaloupe, corn, onions, potatoes and cabbage.

“It started out as something fun to do, and now it has grown into something we love to do,” Ross said.

They started their garden almost 15 years ago in their backyard plot. Their backyard was a plot of hard clay and Theriault, who has been gardening since he was 18, said they could barely run a tiller through it, but they wanted to try and do something with the Earth that would give them a return. The two had retired and had some free time on their hands and decided to find something fun to do.

So, Theriault planted one tomato in a pot, and the garden grew from there.

“It all started with one tomato plant,” Ross said.

With the garden, they also are able to use the land without racking up the water bill. Ross said their neighbors are paying $100-$120 in water for their yards, while they pay $60.

“In the middle of a desert, we are able to make a garden grow this much with less of a water bill than a lawn, that works for us,” Ross said.

Now, nearly two decades later, their garden is large and thriving, producing enough food for the couple to live off of throughout the year, as well as enough to give to family and friends.

“We aren’t going to go hungry if we can’t get to the store,” Ross said.

The two can dehydrate and freeze their crops so they can have it all year around. Their goal is to produce enough to give to F.I.S.H.

Ross and Theriault try to be as conservative as possible, using compost piles from leftover food and lawn clippings and use rainwater and leftover water from showers and cooking to water their crops.

“We take everything and put it back into the ground,” Theriault said.

The two are dedicated to their garden, creating their own deer repellents, netting to keep various critters out, and even installing motion sensors in the yard so they know when an animal is in the garden.

But Ross and Theriault love to share their Kennedy Drive garden with people.

Ross said they will have family dinners with their children and grandchildren, composed entirely of garden foods and they often help teach their neighbors how to create their own. Several of the neighbors have already built planters with a few plants to start.

“It is just fun to show people what you can do with a small city lot,” Ross said. “I don’t know what we would do if we weren’t growing.”

“It is nice to know that anyone can do it, even with just one little pot,” Theriault added.