Introduction
Creating a vision
Outreach and publicity
Get organized!
Finding a suitable site
Creating partnerships
Building and growing your garden
Problem-solving
Introduction back to top
Every situation is unique, but there are some tried-and-true approaches to creating sustainable and productive community food gardens that we can offer gardens just starting out and ones that are well on their way. As you can see from the topics, this guide is as much about community building as the nuts and bolts of site selection and growing plants. Whenever possible, worksheets and additional resources are provided to help you along.
We welcome feedback -- please send comments to mmanheim@growpittsburgh.org
Creating a vision back to top
How will your garden change your community and people's lives? This is your garden vision. Having one can unify your garden group, help set your priorities, and provide a touchstone as you move forward. A vision statement is a clear, concise, specific phrase that can become the tagline for your garden, but bullet-points can be enough to get you started.
The vision process can be completed in a single, well-run meeting with the garden stakeholders. At the meeting, provide everyone the opportunity to share their personal goals for the garden. By writing everyone's goals onto a chalkboard or butcher paper you can keep them visible and make sure no ideas are lost.
Here are some key questions to ask yourselves:
- What is the purpose of the garden? For example: a community-building project, to grow food for a food pantry, to demonstrate a productive use of vacant land
- What kind of garden is it? Just food? Individual plots, collective growing (sometimes called a Community Farm), both?
- Who is the garden for? Just the gardeners? Certain special populations such as youth, people with physical challenges, seniors?
These questions will generate a huge list of ideas with a lot of overlap from which you can identify a few key goals for the garden. You can stop here, or continue towards crafting these key goals into a generalized vision statement, such as:
To bring fresh produce, personal connections, constructive youth activities, and beautification to the neighborhood through community gardening.back to top
Outreach and publicity back to top
People are the foundation of any community garden effort and they are the place to start your organizing. It's best to keep an open mind and let the people who become invested in the project take an active role in shaping it. From the beginning, set a tone of welcome. Everyone who expresses support for the project will have a way to contribute--not just the gardeners.
Since the people within a short walk from the garden will have the most investment in its maintenance, start by reaching out to them. As you continue with outreach, keep a consolidated list of people who may want to be directly involved using a Sign Up Sheet, and a list of those in support of the garden Community Letter of Support. You may want to set up a garden email account, phone number, and PO Box and appoint one person as the primary point of contact for newcomers and inquiries.
Ways to spread the word
- Flyers – Use colorful paper and descriptive pictures. Local print shops might donate services. Put them up around the garden location: mailboxes, community centers, message boards, churches.
- Media – Is there a neighborhood newsletter? Write an article with contact info.
- Events – Fun events with music and food are an excellent way to attract interest and support. Make sure everyone attending signs your Community Letter of Support and Sign Up Sheet.
- Canvassing – People are more likely to get involved if they are asked face-to-face by someone they know. So, getting to know your neighbors is the first step!
- Youth – Make specific efforts to reach out to youth. Be patient and encouraging.
Resources:
5 Core Beliefs of Working In Groups
Citizens' Handbook: Getting people
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Get organized! back to top
Formalizing the understandings amongst the gardeners does not mean the people involved need to be formal. Establishing monthly meetings, clear roles and responsibilities, a decision-making process, and a garden agreement at the outset will minimize the impact of any issues that might come up later.
You may want to include the vision, garden agreement and other documents in an welcome packet to help prospective gardeners decide whether the garden is right for them. Here's an example welcome packet from the University of Missouri Extension Office.
Meetings back to top
Regular meetings will provide structure and eliminate the confusion around scheduling a new meeting each time there is something to discuss. At first you will want to meet monthly to keep momentum moving forward with the various garden projects. Each meeting should have a facilitator, a recorder, and a timekeeper. Rotating roles gives everyone the opportunity to learn new skills.
Group meetings are like gardens: you get out what you put in. A good agenda will keep the meeting productive. Good agendas state the meeting date, place and time; meeting objectives; and the items to be discussed with times allotted for each item. It's the facilitator's role to draft the agenda. At least one week before the meeting, ask the rest of the group to submit agenda items. At the start of the meeting, review the agenda and ask for amendments or additions.
Resources:
Seeds for Change: Meeting Facilitation
Roles and responsibilities back to top
By setting clear roles and responsibilities at the outset, you can share the workload of organizing and maintaining the garden. Find out what skills and interests each member has, then help them identify a role to take on or committee to join. If there isn't any that match, create a new one – everyone involved in the garden should have an empowering role. Regularly rotating roles will ensure that several participants have the knowledge needed to fill each position.
Every garden should have the following positions:
- Coordinating Committee: 2-3 people who are coordinators external and internal garden matters; should be well-organized and readily available.
- Membership Coordinator: maintains wait list, handles plot assignments, tracks dues and volunteer hours
- Communications Coordinator: regularly communicates goings-on at garden to members and public
- Treasurer: tracks dues and expenses, possibly two people
Some other positions to consider:
- Publicity Person: publicizes and reaches out to potential garden members
- Party Person: makes meetings fun, organizes special events
- Documentarian: keeps a scrapbook of the garden's progress and documents events
- Note-taker: keeps notes at meetings and sends them to group
- Growing Guru: a skilled grower (not necessarily a member) available as-needed to answer plant-related questions
- Compost Coordinator: ensures that the compost is functioning properly
- Maintenance Manager/Committee: maintains common areas, fences, tools, etc.
- Greeter: often a person who lives within eye distance of the garden
- Volunteer Coordinator: finds and coordinates volunteers
Making decisions back to top
How will your garden group make decisions? Whether you're using consensus or voting to make final decisions, a good group decision-making process will create space for the collective wisdom of the group to prevail. Instead of making decisions "on the fly" as situations arise, it's better to address them at scheduled face-to-face meetings (rather than over email). In such decision-making meetings, good facilitation is extra-important to ensure that everyone's opinions are voiced and that there is a reasonable amount of time for discussion.
Having a good decision-making process will help your group avoid major disagreements, but conflict is possible in any group project. Depending on how it is handled, disagreement can sometimes offer an opportunity to consider new ideas and discover new options. In general it's a good idea not to address disputes "in the heat of the moment" but instead use the group's decision-making process to find solutions. However, some conflict is outside of the scope of a community garden group - your vision statement can be a good barometer for this.
Resources:
Seeds For Change: Consensus Decision Making
Ohio State University: Conflict Management
Garden agreements back to top
The process of making a garden agreement will be your garden group's opportunity to decide on the expectations for participation. There is a difference between Rules and Guidelines: “No leaving tools out;” vs “We want to keep our tools in good shape. Be sure to put all tools away.” Document your decisions in a garden agreement to be signed by each gardener. The agreement can be amended and re-signed at the start of each year/season.
To create your garden agreement, consider the following questions:
- Application: Who is eligible for space? How do they apply?
- Fees: Is there a membership fee? What is it for? How much is it? Is there a sliding scale? When is it due? Who holds the funds?
- Keys and Security: Is a locked space necessary? If so, who has access? Is there a deposit for keys? (Suggestion: A combination lock can be used to avoid keys. Combination can be changed annually.)
- Plot Maintenance: What are the required standards for a plot? What happens if a plot is not maintained? On what time frame? Who reminds people? How are significant issues resolved?
- Garden Maintenance: Who does the maintenance of garden paths, fences, perimeter beds, mowing, etc.? Is there an expectation that gardeners will volunteer for certain chores? If not, how are these tasks completed?
- Planting Restrictions: Are there restrictions on which types of plants can be grown? (Examples to consider: aggressive re-seeders, perennials, tall-growing crops like sunflowers and corn.)
- Beginning and End of Season: Who will do the tasks to open and close the garden each season? By what date do gardeners need to have the plots planted and cleared?
- Composting: Is there garden compost? Who maintains it? What materials may and may not be composted?
- Materials and Tools: Are shared materials and tools available? How should they be handled, cared for, and stored?
- Pesticides: For successful organic growing certain organic pesticides can be used—which will you allow? What guidelines do you have for application? For example, when other people are around? If children are present? (A note: Organic techniques are strongly recommended by both Grow Pittsburgh and WPC, especially if children will be involved in the gardens. Sprays drift and can affect neighboring plots even on low-wind days. Conventional fertilizers and herbicides or pesticides, even non-spray types, will affect the soil for years to come.)
- Other peoples plots: How should gardeners treat and respect others' spaces? Are there any guidelines on what sorts of stakes, structures, “decorations” and other items might be added to a plot?
- Pets and children: Are pets allowed? Under what conditions? Do you want to directly state the expectation that people will clean up after and monitor pets? Are children welcome? Any conditions/expectations that should be stated?
- Drugs and alcohol policy: suggestion -- include a clear statement that no illegal substances are allowed
- Safe space: suggestion -- include a statement like, "This garden is a safe space where homophobic, sexist, racist, and abusive language is not allowed."
- Unwanted activities: How should theft, vandalism, and other unwanted activities be handled and reported?
- Meetings: Are there any mandatory meetings? When are they?
- Violation of Garden Agreement: What happens if a rule is violated? How will problem be handled?
Everyone participating in the garden should sign two copies, one to keep and one for the group. At the start of each season, this document can be revisited to incorporate the concerns of new members and address any issues that may have arisen.
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Finding a suitable site back to top
Allegheny County has many vacant lots – over 25,000 in Pittsburgh alone. However, many of these lots are not suitable for vegetable gardening; and many suitable vacant lots cannot be accessed legally. Here is information on how to evaluate a potential site, determine the ownership, and get permission to garden there.
Evaluating a garden site back to top
When evaluating vacant lots in your neighborhood, look for lots that fit the following criteria:
- The garden area gets at least 6 hours of sunlight a day in spring and summer.
- The slope of the land is close to level, or gently sloping.
- The garden area is able to support good weed or grass growth. Avoid impermeable surfaces such as asphalt, concrete, or slag.
- The soil has low amounts of heavy metals, particularly lead, which can be hazardous to children and pregnant women. Check our Grower's Resources for more information on soil testing.
In addition, location can make or break a garden. Some considerations:
- Is the garden within sight of at least one residence? Watchful neighbors provide a sense of security.
- Is it accessible for the gardeners? If it is too far or too difficult to walk to, gardeners will be less motivated to maintain their plots.
- Is there wildlife? Deer live in stands of woods. Groundhogs live in holes and vacant houses. Rabbits live in bushes and brush. See the Resource Guide for tips on managing these pests.
- Is the land currently being used? Ballfields, paths, and turn-arounds can be at odds with gardening.
- Is there illegal dumping? Depending on the extent, cleanup may be resource-intensive.
- Is there water? During the dry months of July and August, it will be difficult to provide sufficient water to keep many vegetables plants alive. You may have to bring in outside water, or plant only drought-tolerant crops.
- What is the condition of the soil? Your soil test will give you a lot of information. Vegetables and herbs need fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 6 and 7. If your soil is not ideal, before starting to grow plants, you may want to spend a year or two growing your soil first.
Download the Site Evaluation Form Grow Pittsburgh uses for evaluating sites we work on.
Resources:
Penn State's guide to Lead in Residential Soils
Determining ownership back to top
It is important to know who owns the site you wish to garden on. Using the County Assessment website, you can find out who the owner is. Note what the mailing address is, and if there are back taxes due. Also notice if the land is made up of multiple parcels.
Resources:
From Vacant to Vibrant: a useful guide from 2006 for evaluating and gaining access to all kinds of vacant lots in Pittsburgh.
Getting permission to garden on a site back to top
For vacant lots owned by the City of Pittsburgh that are not for sale, there are two ways to get access to the land for community greening. (Other municipalities in Allegheny County will have their own processes for permitting residents to use their vacant land.)
- You can apply for a Garden Waiver, which is handled by the City's Real Estate Division, (412) 255-2300.
- Groups and organizations can go through the Green Up Program.
As of 2011, the City is no longer taking on the liability for parcels to be gardened. In order to be eligible for a Garden Waiver, the individual, group, or organization must provide their own liability insurance.
If the lot is not municipally-owned, you may still be able to legally use if for gardening. If you can locate the owner, perhaps you can get permission for gardening on the lot. Or, perhaps they would be willing to donate the lot to a local non-profit organization that would give you permission to garden it. (Make sure to check into liens and back-taxes before pursuing this option.)
Whatever your situation, it is crucial to have written agreements signed by all parties. The process of drafting the document will allow each party to express their concerns and ensure that everyone agree to the terms of the agreement. The National Policy and Legal Analysis Network has a very thorough document outlining all the possible clauses that you may want to consider in your agreement. The lease in the NPLAN document is between a landowner and a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Here is a simpler landowner agreement that formalizes access for individuals or neighborhood groups to access land for gardening.
Resources:
Example Liability insurance coverage for community gardens
Your garden organization or you as an individual face liabilities every day. One of the best ways to protect you or an organizations assets is to carry adequate business liability insurance. A Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy is your first line of defense against many common claims that could occur in your gardens.
General Liability insurance basically covers claims of bodily injury or other physical injury or property damage. It protects you and your organization against incidents that may occur on your premises or at other covered locations. Commercial General Liability enables your organization to continue operations while it faces real or fraudulent claims of certain types of negligence or wrongdoing.The primary exposure especially for any gardening organization are third party slip and falls that could occur in your gardens.
Small Farm Insurance - a start-up from Cleveland, OH offering policies specific to the needs of community gardens and small farms enterprises.
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Creating partnerships back to top
Community gardens are more than just the soil and plants – a successful community garden is really a network of relationships that may include neighbors, relatives, local businesses, churches and schools, civic government, and more.
Non-Profit Partner
Having a non-profit (501(c)3 tax status) partner is enormously helpful for tax-exempt purchasing, providing a tax write-off for donations, umbrella liability coverage, and possibly even assuming ownership of the community garden land. Please note that the process for starting a non-profit takes at least one year, and lots of paper-work, so it's best to link up with an existing non-profit rather than try to start one yourself.
Donations
Contributions of land, tools, seeds, fencing, soil improvements or money are all vital to a successful community garden. Some community gardens can provide most of their provisions through fees charged to the membership; but for many, garden donations are essential. Individuals, churches, schools, citizens groups, private businesses, local parks and recreation departments are all potential donors.
If you have a personal connection to a national business, you may be able to request donations or other support. However, community gardens generally have much more success approaching businesses based in their own neighborhood or municipality. Don't forget to acknowledge all donations, no matter how small, with thank you notes, signage, or gifts.
Volunteer Organizations
Think about big projects you might have in the future. If it's possible to pick out a date and plan for that project, there are many organization that would love to help by connecting you to pools of volunteers. Sources of volunteers include: churches, Pittsburgh Cares, university volunteer groups, local high school students who need to complete volunteer hours.
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Building and growing your garden back to top
Best-Practices
For best-practices and locally relevant information about how to build and grow a healthy garden, check out our Grower's Resources pages.
Fundraising
General information about fundraising and a list of grant-giving organizations compiled by Grow Pittsburgh's Director of Business Development: download
Upcoming Deadlines:
October 1 - Gardener's Supply Company and ACGA grants up to $1,000 application link
October 7 (extended deadline) - One Drop Foundation and ACGA grant for rainbarrels application link
November 28 - National Gardening Association 2012 Youth Garden Grant http://www.kidsgardening.org/grants/2012-youth-garden-grants-1
December - School Garden Grant http://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/gardengrants-application.php
December 5 - Fiskars Project Orange Thumb grant http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Project-Orange-Thumb
Problem-solving back to top
Resources:
Anticipating Problems compiled with info from Philadelphia Greens