Month-by-Month in the Community Garden – Year One

This toolbox gives a month-by-month look at starting a community garden. There are a variety of things to consider in building your garden and your group. To mention a few, in the garden - location, layout, the growing season - and in the community - getting gardeners, what rules and regulations, how decisions will be made etc. We've summarized all of these in 10 STEPS TO STARTING A COMMUNITY GARDEN.

But there are a lot of details to consider - we hope the monthly overview highlights the issues and presents a logical approach to starting a great community garden. As with all great gardens a lot of planning and preparation needs to take place before any gardening does - so our community gardening year starts in the fall - with planning. Each month provides details on issues and ideas to get your garden growing.

Whether you are starting a new community garden or working with an established one, you will need to develop an organization to keep everything running smoothly. Organizing your community garden takes work and requires cooperation, but will result in everyone working together to grow productive gardens and make improvements to the site.

Raising money, finding and securing land, and making all other arrangements to carry on neighborhood gardening activities a big task. Trying to do this on your own will only result in early burn-out. An organized group can do this and much more. Having a garden leader can help facilitate a great group SEE A GARDEN LEADER

The Community Garden Calendar Month-by-Month

Fall: October, November, December

First, hold an informal community/neighbourhood get-together to see if there is enough support, need and interest in starting a community garden. If there is, form a committee who will write a program proposal. Include the following in the proposal:

• A preliminary budget

• Potential funding and revenue sources

• Possible garden sites and an outline of who owns the sites

• An inventory of group members’ skills, knowledge, and strengths

• The garden’s format (i.e. vegetable, flower, combination)

• The garden’s focus (if the group decides to have one). For example: will the garden be for seniors, children, youth, low income and if so, it is essential that these groups participate in all stages of planning

• Potential sponsorship for the garden, such as a community health centre, a local business, school, day-care, hospital, public housing authorities, public service organisations, faith-based organisations, food bank or other non-profit organisations.

• Membership and volunteer guidelines and recruitment policies

• The garden’s name (it may seem an unimportant thing at this stage of the game, but naming the garden will make it seem that much closer to reality).

2. Do some research into community organisations that could provide help at this first stage and every step of the way. These include: horticultural societies, garden clubs, other community gardens, local landscape designers and architects, local schools and community colleges that have landscaping programs or offer courses in landscape design and construction, municipal parks and recreation departments.

3. The next step is to decide on a mailing address and telephone numbers. Form a telephone tree for internal communication with other committee members. The committee should also do the following:

• Open a bank account with at least two signatures necessary for withdrawals

• Plan a community-wide meeting at which the program proposal will be presented.

4. Hold a community or neighbourhood meeting. At this meeting the planning committee will:

• Present the organisational plan and structure for the proposed community garden. You may want to be prepared for folks who don't know exactly what a community garden is SEE WHAT GOOD ARE COMMUNITY GARDENS

• Call for volunteers to form and official STEERING COMMITTEE. Most of the members of the planning committee will likely want to be on the steering committee, but an effort to add new members should be made.

• Call for volunteers to join and/or chair the following committees: FINANCE, MEMBERSHIP, SITE & DESIGN, CONSTUCTION, COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION, and SOCIAL.

• Schedule the first committee meetings, including the steering committee.

• Introduce the sponsor. If no sponsor yet exists, now is the time to brainstorm with the community for ideas.

• If there is no definite site for the garden as yet, seek help from those at the meeting to identify possible sites.

Back to top

January

All committees should try to meet at least once a month and should set goals and timelines in which to accomplish these goals.

1. The steering committee should clearly establish the project goals and objectives.

2. The finance committee should begin to prepare a detailed budget itemising all aspects of the garden’s development. Remember to include volunteer labour and items, which might be donated “in kind” (goods and services, instead of cash). Many organisations that provide funds do so on a matching basis and will usually consider “in kind” donations to be acceptable. This committee should also identify and approach sources of funding, both public and private. SEE FUNDRAISING

3. The site and design committee should have a list of potential sites and have evaluated them on their suitability. SEE ACQUIRING A GARDEN SITE & SITE FACTORS TO CONSIDER. There are special considerations for starting a garden on common property including approach the site owner about arrangements for the use of the site. As soon as a suitable site has been acquired, a detailed, scaled plan should be drawn up, showing existing features of the site and its surroundings.

4. If necessary, the membership committee should outreach into the community to find more participants. Based upon the precious experience of committee members, decide upon an outreach strategy. Often word of mouth is more effective than putting up notices or handing out flyers, but each community is different. Go with what has worked in the past, but don’t discount new ideas too quickly.

The membership committee is also responsible for establishing some basic rules for the garden. Determining these basic rules in the beginning can head off arguments later on. SEE HOW WILL THE GARDEN RUN?

• Many community gardens ask their members to participate in a certain number of group workdays per year (usually for spring and fall clean up).

• Decide upon a fee structure (whether or not you will charge a fee for the use of the plots, will it be a flat fee or a sliding scale based on the ability to pay, size of plot, number of gardeners per plot, etc.)

• Other things to consider are policies around organic vs. chemical fertilisers and pesticides, plot upkeep, water use, donations of produce to a food bank or shelter, children in the garden. SEE SAMPLE RULES AND REGULATIONS

5. The communications committee can begin work on a newsletter. Your first efforts need not be muchmore than a page or two. As the garden grows in size and activity there will be plenty to include.

6. The construction committee can work with the site design and finance committees to decide what materials will be needed and how they will be obtained. SEE RESOURCES- HOW TO FIND WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Many local merchants may be willing to donate materials such as lumber, soil, seed, sand, paving materials, etc. Be sure to thank them in a written letter and publicly in your newsletter.

• Also identify skills within the group and assign tasks based upon those skills. There may be carpenters, stone masons, or landscapers in the group that are willing to help with the site construction.

8. The education committee should identify local horticultural experts who would be willing to conduct workshops on topics of interest to the gardeners. Survey the gardeners themselves to find out the level ofexisting knowledge and what they would be interested in learning more about.

9. The social committee can be one of the most important groups of the garden. It is through social events that the gardeners begin to get to know each other, especially in the non-growing seasons. There is no reason to wait until spring to hold a garden party. Consider also having a volunteer appreciation day during the summer to gather all the garden’s contributors together.

Back to top

February

1. Continue to recruit new members and, if circumstances permit, a paid contractor. Consider announcing the garden in local newspapers, radio stations, and public access television.

2. If a site has not yet been acquired, set a deadline to do so, no later than the end of March.

3. If you already have a site, proceed with the site inventory and analysis and schedule the first design committee brainstorming sessions (SEE SITE DESIGN). After the first group design session, the site and design committee should prepare a design drawing based upon the ideas generated. Before the end of March, hold another meeting of the entire group and present the design(s). If everyone is happy with it, the construction committee can now proceed with planning the construction work and the finance committee, can prepare a detailed budget.

4. Develop a draft set of rules and regulations that you will take to the entire group for approval (SEE SAMPLE RULES AND REGULATIONS).

5. Arrange for rototilling and other soil work to be done as soon as the soil is workable. If you are getting help from the Park’s Department, they need to know as far in advance as possible so that they can efficiently schedule the work. Don’t expect them to do the work on only one week’s notice.

6. Order seeds and supplies. Some gardeners will want to order their own, but many, especially first time gardeners will find this too daunting a task. Call upon the local experts that you have already contacted to help you decide what grows best in your area and under the specific conditions in your garden.

7. Draw up a schedule of work days. Depending on the complexity of the site design, you may need several days. Decide what will be done on each day so that members can contribute what they do best. (SEE WORK PLAN TIPS)

Back to top

March

1. The garden co-ordinator whether paid or volunteer should be in place and involved by mid-March.

2. Confirm arrangements for site preparation and rototilling, etc.

3. Continue to solicit donations of materials, money and services (ongoing) SEE FUNDRAISING

4. Encourage participation and advertise (on local media and by word-of-mouth) the need for land, funds, materials, and volunteer labour for site development (ongoing). SEE GARDEN WISH LIST

5. Begin to assign plots

6. Arrange for water sources: rain barrels, hoses, buckets, and watering cans.

7. Install water system, if possible.

8. Arrange for needed tools, rent or purchase as required and draw up procedures for tool sharing SEE RESOURCES- HOW TO FIND WHAT YOU'LL NEED & TOOLS

9. Make provisions for secure on-site tool storage, both for small hand tools and for larger ones.

10. Arrange for compost bins (some municipalities provide them at a nominal charge).

11. Arrange for an educational workshop, topic to depend upon gardener’s needs. Seed starting would be an appropriate one at this time of year.

12. Start seeds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and other long season plants indoors, under lights. SEE SEED STARTING

Back to top

April

1. Hold an orientation meeting with all gardeners. Explain the rules and regulation and have everyone sign their agreement to abide by them (SEE SAMPLE RULES AND REGULATIONS). Determine the levels of gardening skills within the group and determine the gardeners’ needs.

2. In the beginning of the month send a sample of the soil for testing. Contact the Department of Agriculture for a list of labs and directions for taking soil samples.

3. Weather and soil permitting, begin construction of “hard” landscape features (paving, arbours, retaining walls, fences, etc.). Don’t be tempted to do any digging if the soil is very wet or is still frozen. You’ll harm the soil structure and actually set your schedule back.

4. When the soil is workable, stake out the plots and prepare the soil by digging in compost, manure, bone meal and whatever else the soil analysis recommends.

5. Plant cool season crops such as peas, lettuce, onion sets and spinach.

Back to top

May

1. Finish “hard” landscaping construction.

2. Prepare the garden beds after the soil has warmed up.

3. Prepare a news release about the garden for the local media.

4. Contact all gardeners to see if they need any help.

5. Hold a mid-month workday to make sure that all plots are assigned and prepared, and to generate some excitement.

6. The co-ordinator should develop and maintain a demonstration plot.

7. Begin to set out transplants after the 24th of May (or whatever is the last frost-free date in your area), if it is warm enough. Tomatoes and other warm weather crops may still need protection from cool night time temperatures well into June.

8. Write the monthly newsletter.

9. Have an official opening day party for the garden. Don’t forget to invite donors and other important friends as well as local media.

Back to top

June

1. Finish setting out tender transplants.

2. Begin harvesting peas, radishes, lettuce and spinach.

3. Make sure the water system is adequate and that gardeners are able to use it easily.

4. Be on the lookout for any pest and disease problems.

5. Be on the lookout for any potential vandalism. Try to take care of it before it has a chance to escalate (SEE VANDALISM)

6. Stake tomatoes, put up supports for beans and other vines.

7. Plant succession crops. (SEE MIDSUMMER IN THE GARDEN - SUCCESSION CROPS)

8. Maintain the site, mow borders and pathways, make compost, make sure that all members are able to fulfill their maintenance obligations.

9. The co-ordinator(s) should make sure to have everyone’s vacation schedule so that they can take care of the plots while the gardeners are away.

10. Arrange for educational workshops, such as composting, insect and disease control, as needed.

11. Write newsletter.

Back to top

July and August

1. Re-assign and replant any abandoned plots.

2. Continue maintenance chores

3. Make sure that the gardens are adequately watered during the hottest months and reapply mulch, as needed.

4. Continue monitoring for insect and disease problems.

5. Consider whether you will save seeds from open-pollinated varieties. SEE SEED SAVING

6. Hold a mid-season get together.

7. Set up a distribution system for surplus produce.

8. Hold demonstrations on food preserving techniques.

9. Conduct tours of the garden and prepare the gardens for awards, judging (if desired).

10. Write monthly newsletter.

11. Enjoy the harvest.

Back to top

September

1. Conduct an evaluation survey of the gardeners.

2. Order seeds for green manure cover crops, to be planted after gardens are cleaned up.

3. Order fall bulbs for late September/early October planting.

4. Hold a harvest party toward the end of the month.

5. Write monthly newsletter.

Back to top

October/November

1. Hold a workday to clean up plots and the rest of the site, after everyone has had a chance to harvest. Remove and compost spent plant materials. Plant cover crops.

2. Send soil sample for analysis

3. Clean, repair and store tools for the winter.

4. Repair any damage to fences, walls, tool shed, etc.

5. Flush and winterise watering system.

6. Write monthly newsletter.

7. Write thank you letters to volunteers, supporters and funders (SEE FUNDRAISING).

8. Begin monthly social gatherings and educational workshops

9. Write annual report.

10. Evaluate the project and plan changes for next year.

Back to top

Year 2

KEYS TO ENSURING YOUR GARDEN'S SUCCESS

GROWING YOUR GROUP

Back to top