Carson City's The Greenhouse Project welcomes new leadership, gearing up for annual Mother's Day Plant Sale

For the past ten years, the Greenhouse Project has been quietly expanding behind Carson High School while their mission has remained the same: producing food for those who might otherwise lack the access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Between the two garden locations behind CHS and Carson-Tahoe Hospital, around 5,000 pounds of food were donated this past year to FISH, C.I.R.C.L.E.S., the Ron Wood Center, the Senior Center, and more.

As TGP heads into its tenth growing season since its program began in 2012, it is now under new leadership, with former TGP Foothill Garden Manager Will Pierz stepping into the position left by Cory King.

King, who led TGP for several years as its manager, recently took a position with the Nevada Division of Forestry overseeing the Washoe Nursery.

Pierz graduated from Douglas High School in 2007 and spent several years working on farms in Central America before returning to the states. He took a farming internship in Virginia, but knew his calling was to bring regenerative agriculture back to his home state.

Regenerative agriculture is a term used in response to commercial agriculture — think the big fields in the midwest or California where monoculture (only one type of) crops are grown, which rely heavily on large amounts of fertilizer, pesticides, and tilling.

Regenerative agriculture, on the other hand, is based on mimicking nature in respects to naturally building topsoil without the use of chemical fertilizer, and relying on natural pest control options such as predator insects and companion planting instead of commercial pesticides.

While regenerative agriculture has been practiced for decades in some areas like the pacific northwest, it has been slow to take root in arid climates like Nevada.

“Regenerative agriculture is important everywhere, but it’s especially challenging here than in other locations,” Pierz said. “Tackling some of those issues, figuring out what those solutions are — that’s what I believe in.”

Pierz’s mission is not only to make soil healthier, but to push local food production — which would lead to less reliance on out-of-state sources for the majority of the food eaten locally.

“I believe in decentralizing our food systems, moving towards regenerative ag, will help solve a lot of big problems our state is facing, and will continue to face,” Pierz said.

Pierz worked in the Foothill Gardens from 2017 until he took the position at the CHS location. Taking over his position is Christin Cohee, who has been with the TGP project since 2021.

Like many others who have worked with TGP, Cohee came to the position through Americorp. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019 with a bachelors in Wildlife Ecology and Management, and knew right away she wanted to work in ecology education.

Her first post-grad position was as an outdoor educator with Sierra Nevada Journeys in Portola, Calif., where she fell in love with the region.

“I knew I wanted to stay in the area,” Cohee said. “When I saw TGP was hiring, it felt like fate.”

Under her guidance, Cohee would like to see an expansion of the medicinal garden within the Foothill Garden space, which is located behind the Carson Tahoe Cancer Center and is visited often by patients undergoing treatment.

The garden currently grows over a dozen varieties of medicinal herbs and plants, along with fresh fruits and vegetables, and the 2019 implementation of the Bee Hotel and Pollinator Garden.

Carson City was named the 76th Bee City USA in the nation, and the pollinator garden was installed in celebration by the Carson City Chamber Leadership Class of 2019 in conjunction with the Foothill Gardens.

Pierz oversaw the Foothill Gardens from its inception in 2017, and Pierz and Cohee will continue working together to expand both their programs.

Education is important to both managers, and with the partnership between TGP and CHS, the agriculture program has grown to over 220 students in 2023.

A growing number of young people are becoming more interested in ecology and agriculture nationwide, and Cohee is not surprised.

“A lot of us know climate change is the biggest issue of our lifetime,” Cohee said. “There aren’t many tangible things you can do as an individual, but through regenerative ag, there is a hands-on way to help the earth besides policy which, as we’ve seen in the past few generations, isn’t getting us anywhere. It makes me feel good about stewarding the earth I’m on and helping support the survival of the next few generations.”

In an effort to help contribute to the ecology of the region as a whole, and not only in food production, TGP will also soon be expanding its offerings of native plant species for purchase.

“There aren’t many places that provide native plants (in the area), and there is a huge demand for them,” Pierz said.

Prior to the Silver Boom of Virginia City that led to the clear cutting of a significant portion of trees within the valley and into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, there was substantially more biodiversity than in modern times, including everything from plant life to animals.

“After a disturbance, it can take hundreds or even thousands of years to regrow an area in our climate after a clearcut,” Pierz said. “We can do our part by planting native species — and anyone reading can help bring it back as well.”

Looking forward, the annual Mother’s Day Plant Sale fundraiser, which offers dozens of seedlings from fruit, veg, herbs, flowers, and everything in between, will be taking place Saturday, May 13 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition, plants and seedlings can be ordered online and picked up Fridays and Saturdays throughout the growing season.

TGP is always looking for volunteers at both of its gardening spaces, especially in late summer when Americorp internships are ending.

To learn more about the Greenhouse Project, and how you can help support their mission, please visit https://www.carsoncitygreenhouse.org