Remo Richard Pepi, 42, of Willmouth Street was handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence after police uncovered 141 marijuana seedlings in his backyard.

Pepi told police he was given a bag of marijuana seeds at a party last year and as an experiment had scattered them over trays and pot plants in his garden.

He said the seeds received incidental watering while caring for his vegetable garden and he had made no plans about what to do with the budding crop.

However, magistrate Peter Bugden told Pepi his explanation for the crime was "ludicrous" and said he would have to be "deaf, dumb and blind" not to know the potential consequences.

"You've been here for 21 years in this famous town Griffith - it's one of the great towns in NSW but there's a side of it that has received an enormous amount of publicity concerning growing marijuana," Mr Bugden said.

"To come into this court and tell me you were growing $280,000 worth of marijuana out of curiosity is an explanation that I do not accept."

Acting on a tip-off, police raided Pepi's Hanwood home last year and seized plants ranging in height from 3cm to 50cm.

Pepi made full admissions to growing the plants and a search of the house failed to turn up any more drugs.

His lawyer told the court on Wednesday that his client was a "man of good character, a hard-working man" who was on a disability pension while waiting for a full hip replacement.

Mr Bugden said although he did not accept Pepi's explanation, his early guilty plea had saved him from a jail sentence.