Sustaining the Garden
Running a Community Garden: Sustaining and
Sustainable
The Ingredients for a Lively Community Garden:
1. Garden Leadership Team of 6 to 12 people.
2. Location, date and time for spring sign-up meeting
and social are given to all gardeners.
3. Description of what garden rental fee covers is
clear.
4. Limit each gardener to one garden space so more
people can join the garden.
5. Each and every gardener renting a space signs up to
carry out a specific role in garden maintenance when they pay the
rental fee and sign the gardener's agreement.
6. Neighbourhood-wide spring and fall communication is given
to residents of all ages (including students, youth groups,
seniors, home owners, renters, local businesses, condominium
boards, local organizations).
7. Garden Guidelines & Gardener's Agreement are reviewed
yearly.
8. List of Gardeners, email, phone, address, record of
garden payment received is kept up-to-date.
9. Weatherproof signs for the garden (garden name, contact,
how to join, upcoming events) are posted and easy to read.
10. Waiting List method of welcoming people to join the garden is
explained publicly and includes details on how it works with
respect to re-assignment of abandoned plots.
11. On-call garden coaches for new gardeners' questions are
available at publicized dates and times.
12. Rotating Garden Monitor / Garden Angel / Garden Hero/ Heroine
is a role that all gardeners undertake for one week each growing
season.
13. Fall Wrap-up Meeting and Harvest Potluck Social is held
annually.
14. Garden Winterizing Plan is known and understood by all
gardeners.
.
15. Safety Guidelines are posted.
Our garden team:
- Makes it public how your garden team handles the
waiting list for rental garden plots.
- Gives people on the waiting list a chance to join
when garden plots are abandoned so they can grow some short season
leafy greens or start enriching the soil in preparation for the
next season.
- Offers a newly available garden plot to the next
person on the waiting list according to the date that they
contacted the garden.
- Expects that some people's life circumstances will
change and there will be cancellations in garden bed rentals right
up to mid-June. This means that many people on the waiting
list will likely be able to join the garden.
- Makes sure to invite people on the waiting list to
all garden events, build days, potluck suppers and garden cleanup
days so they can meet other gardeners even if there is no garden
bed available this season for them to rent.
- Mentions other food gardening options such as
sharing a group gardening space to people who are on the waiting
list if it looks unlikely that there will be any individual garden
plots available in the upcoming season.
- Checks to see if there is a role that people on the
waiting list can carry out at the garden without renting a
plot. In exchange for produce they might be willing to care
for the perennials and annuals that beautify the common areas of
the garden.
- Contacts the Community Garden Resource Network at
the Calgary Horticultural Society at communitygardens@calhort.org
if there are unrented garden spaces so that people on other garden
waiting lists nearby could have the option of purchasing a
community association membership and joining the garden.