GARDENERS’ GUIDELINES 2018
Welcome to the SHarP Community Garden,
now in its eighth year. The acronym stands for Shared Harvest Project, which
means that one of our primary goals is to furnish fresh-grown vegetables to the
St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at 42nd and Boulevard Place. The
garden is a mix of individual raised beds for personal gardening and community
beds grown exclusively for the pantry. We take the “community” part of the
garden seriously and hope you will enjoy the fellowship of other gardeners
here, as well as the curious passersby who are interested in the garden. We all
learn from one another, whatever our experience in gardening has been. Over the
years, we have found that a few guidelines go a long way towards managing a
productive garden. We trust that you will agree to the following:
• I will have something planted in my
garden plot by May 15 and will keep it planted all summer long.
• I will not use chemical fertilizers,
herbicides, or pesticides—SHarP maintains organic standards.
• I will visit my plot at least once a
week to check conditions and will arrange for someone else to do so when I am
ill, away on vacation, or too busy. This is important for watering, weed
control and harvesting.
• I will sign up for one or two one-week
assignments to keep all community beds watered.
• I will keep weeds down and maintain
the areas immediately surrounding my plot, including trimming grass that grows
up at the base of the bed. Brooke Southerland mows the lawn on a regular basis.
• If my plot becomes unkempt, I
understand the garden leaders will give me two weeks’ notice to clean it up.
After that time, they will re-assign it or care for the plants and harvest them
for the pantry. To ensure that our mission for the food pantry moves forward,
we need to maximize production for all the raised beds.
• If I must abandon my plot for any
reason, I will notify the garden leaders.
• I will help keep trash and litter
cleaned from the garden, taking away any garbage (cell packs, bags, etc).
• I will participate in the garden’s
spring cleanup, usually in late April/early May, the summer workday, and the
fall cleanup, usually in late October/early November. I will clean out my plot
by the end of November.
• I will pick only crops from my
own plot or my adopted community beds unless given permission by another plot
user. Of course, organized harvesting from a community bed, as directed by the
garden leaders, would be an exception.
• I agree to volunteer time toward
community gardening efforts, such as harvesting for the food pantry or helping
to maintain the overall site, as need arises and as directed by the garden
leaders.
• I will pay an annual fee of $20 per
plot to help cover garden expenses, such as soil mixes, common tools, water, and
seeds and plants for the community beds.
• I am aware of the resources posted to our blog spot
online, http://sharedharvestproject.blogspot.com,
and
I have read the guidelines on donating food to the pantry, watering procedures,
adopting community beds, composting, etc.
• I understand that neither the garden
group nor owner of the land are responsible for my actions. I therefore agree
to hold harmless the garden group and owner of the land for any liability,
damage, loss or claim that occurs in connection with use of the garden by me or
any of my guests.
Signature________________________________ Date
_______________
E-mail address ___________________________ Phone(s) _______________________
