At the southern edge of the Black Rock Desert, Gerlach has become a garden spot in Northern Nevada

Among the Gerlach schools students who have worked in the community garden are: front, left to right, Chase Bridges, Crystal Bingley and Erin Nolan; and back row, left to right Kyle Katz, Marissa Tullar, Ariel Marshall and Daphne Reynolds. Below, the gardens are thriving earlier this week. / Susan Skorupa/Reno Gazette-Journal.

Gerlach’s community garden is a surprising patch of green

By Susan Skorupa
RGJ.com
Sept 24, 2008

Excerpt:

Despite its location at the southern edge of the Black Rock Desert, Gerlach has become a garden spot of Northern Nevada.

This summer, while no one was looking except the residents of this tiny community, Gerlach bloomed.

The town’s community garden, with its array of garden vegetables — corn, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, squash and pumpkins and other vegetables and herbs — was the brain child of Elizabeth Jackson, a career counselor at Gerlach High School. With about 100 miles of lonely road between Gerlach families and any major grocery store chain, she thought a garden might teach some lessons in self-reliance as well as basic gardening and plant care. Last year, she set about establishing a community garden where the word “community” truly is the keystone.

“This is the second year. It was a struggle at first; people said it would never work,” Jackson said. “Now they love it. Elders give us tips. I think the garden has touched everybody in the community.”

Read the complete article here.