WEST 104 STREET COMMUNITY GARDEN
Reminders, Rules, Regulations
Some important reminders for all members, new and old:
- GARDEN MONITORING OPEN HOURS. To belong to the garden, you must monitor at least TWO times for three hours every season. Open hours to the public are required by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Please contact the head of the Monitoring Committee for your assignment, if you havent already signed up. Check the monitor schedule, posted on the sheds, for your obligatory shift. If you are unable to honor your three-hour shift, you must find another gardener to replace you and alert the monitoring committee of the change beforehand.
- COMMUNITY GARDEN WORKDAYS ARE SCHEDULED ONCE A MONTH. All members are expected to attend. During drought periods, all gardeners are expected to help water communal beds.
- INDIVIDUAL BEDS ARE NUMBERED. Maps showing bed assignments will be posted on each shed and will also be distributed at the first general meeting. All beds that have not been worked on by May 31st are eligible for reassignment. Every effort will be made to contact you to before a transfer is made and reciprocally, if you cannot maintain your bed for some reason, let the Steering Committee know. All beds that have not been worked on by the June meeting will be re-assigned. If you cannot tend your bed for some reason, you must let the Steering Committee know. New and former members are assigned 4x4 beds, as available; additional space may be assigned, if available. Only the Steering Committee can assign beds. No member is allowed to assign, expand or create a new bed on his/her own.
- COMMITTEES. Members are required to participate in at least two committees (sign up on the application, marking your #1 and 2 choices.) Please note if you are willing to be the head of the committee. Committee heads only need to be on one committee, but are encouraged to join others. At the beginning of the season, get your committee assignments and contact the committee head to find out your duties. Committee membership should be proactive and communal; if something needs to be done, get others to join in and do it.
RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE 104 STREET GARDEN
Governance: The garden will be governed by a Steering Committee of five to seven members who are elected annually. One will function as treasurer. Major garden decisions influencing the layout, design, planning and programming of the garden will be decided by the membership as a whole by simple majority. The Steering Committee will settle small disputes, call and conduct meetings, and oversee the allotment of individual plots.
Green Thumb: The Green Thumb coordinator and alternate will be elected annually.
Committee Membership: As a member/gardener, you must participate actively in two garden committees in addition to working in your own bed. A brief description outlines the primary duties of each committee.
Car Caravan
- Pick up supplies, including picking up supplies from Green Thumb distribution locations.
Cat Crew
- Buy food in bulk and obtain other materials for the care of garden cats;
- Secure low or no-fee vet service for cats;
- Monitor rat population in garden.
Cistern
- Maintain cistern;
- Investigate other possible "green" systems that capture rain run-off from nearby buildings.
Communal Flower Beds
- Plant, water and weed communal beds in East and West gardens.
Compost
- Maintain composting system and instruct members regarding acceptable practices.
Design/Grantwriting/Publicity
- Suggest designs for new garden projects;
- Gather together information and write grants in coordination with other committees;
- In conjunction with other committees, create and distribute signs and leaflets to publicize garden events.
Finance - New in 2011
- Create a budget for the garden.
Garbage Control
- Bag all garbage and put out for pick up on appropriate days.
Herb Garden
- Plant, water and weed herb the garden.
Inventory & Supply - New in 2011
- Maintain inventory of garden supplies
- Coordinate with other committees to streamline purchasing and/or maintenance of equipment
Lawn mowing/trimming/weeding
- Mow lawns on a weekly basis during the growing season; reseed as necessary;
- Weed and water lawns as necessary.
Maintenance/repairs
- Repair and maintain beds frames and outbuildings in garden.
Membership Coordinators
- Process membership forms and collate and distribute membership lists to committee heads;
- Re-stock sheds with garden applications and help recruit new members;
- Along with steering committee, welcome new members;
- Alert steering committee to any potential problems/concerns.
Monitor Coordinators
- Organize and oversee monitoring hours and reminders;
- Post monthly schedule in gardens;
- Check to see that members are honoring their monitoring hours.
Rose Arbor
- Prune, feed, and water rose garden in West Garden.
Special Events
- Plan, publicize and coordinate public events in the garden including fleamarkets, children's events, holiday parties and music performances. We encourage members to volunteer on a "per event" basis.
Telephone Crew
- Call and/or send post cards to members without Internet access to alert them to meetings and upcoming events (working in coordination with membership, steering and other committee members.);
- Call those members and record votes when there are special garden votes and relay information to Steering Committee.
Tree Pits/ Sidewalk
- Plant and maintain tree pits and front of garden, regularly clearing away all trash that accumulates in the pits and along the fences.
Water Barrel Filling
- Fill barrels on an as-needed basis during the growing season;
- Investigate "green" systems that capture rain run-off from nearby buildings.
Website Maintenance
- Monitor website and work with other committees to upload all new information on votes, programs and other garden information; keep all information as current as possible.
Individual Beds: Returning members must work their beds before May 31s to retain their plots. For upgraded (4’x8’) or new (4’x4’) beds, all members, new and old, must ask to be put on a waiting list. Plots will be assigned by the Steering Committee as they become available. Members who do not tend their beds will be asked to give them to or share them with other, more active members. Beds will be awarded, depending on the gardener’s active participation in workdays and on committee projects as well as seniority.
Communal Gardens: Only members assigned to the communal beds may plant or remove plants. Others are encouraged to plant and work, provided they contact the Communal Gardens Committee heads. In times of drought, all members will be asked to help water the lawns and communal gardens.
Monthly meetings/workdays: Members are required to attend meetings/workdays held from March until November. If members cannot attend they must contact the Steering Committee for individual projects. Members who don't attend workdays, or who don't make alternate work plans with the committee members, may be asked to give up their beds.
Monitoring Open Garden Hours: As a community garden it is important that we provide residents and visitors the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of our garden. Green Thumb and the Parks Department mandate that we host Open Garden Hours during the growing season. Members are required to monitor two Open Garden periods every season; failure to do so puts our Green Thumb support in jeopardy. Failure of a member to attend their monitoring hours may lead to loss of garden membership (see below).
Pets: Leashed dogs and other pets, accompanied by their owners, will be permitted as long as they are neither destructive to property nor hostile to the garden community. The Steering Committee reserves the right to restrict specific animals whose owners don't comply with these rules.
Events in the Garden: Special community events will be permitted in the garden with the consent of the Steering Committee if scheduled in advance.
Drinking: Intoxication and/or disorderly conduct are not to be permitted in the garden.
Theft: Members are not permitted to pick from or weed individual beds assigned to other members. Unauthorized picking, pruning, or weeding in another member's bed may result in immediate loss of membership privileges.
Pesticide use is not permitted in individual or communal garden areas.
Expenditures: Garden purchases under $200 require advance permission by the Steering Committee. Purchases of $200 or more require a membership vote and approval. Receipts are required in either case and need to be presented to the Treasurer.
THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT POLICY
This system is similar to the drivers license policy: You accumulate points against you for breaking garden rules. Once you accumulate three points, you lose your garden plot for one full year and must reapply.
You will be penalized one point for each of the following infractions:
- Missing your monitoring hours.
- Missing more than 3 workdays. (This does not apply if you are completing workday projects on alternate days if you cannot attend on the exact date. Steering Committee must be notified in these cases).
- Not actively attending your committee meetings or fulfilling your committee assignments.
- Interfering with any communal bed without explicit permission, unless it is your assigned area. This includes planting, transplanting, removing plants, pruning plants, redrawing borders or any other tampering.
- Violation of any other garden rule as stated in the Fact Sheet/Rules and Regulations.
Planting, weeding or harvesting from, or otherwise tampering with, other members' beds without their explicit permission may lead to an immediate revocation of garden membership for one year.
The Steering Committee