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1 Evanston Garden Cooperative EGCOOP 1200 Main Street, Evanston, Wyoming 82930 Office (307) 783-6470 Fax: (307) 783-6490 www.evanstonwy.org Community Garden Membership and User Policies and Responsibilities Our Goal The goal of the Evanston Garden Cooperative (EGCOOP) is to provide community members of all ages and abilities a place to garden; to provide community members access to fresh, organic produce; to create a sustainable environment that will both contribute and benefit from our presence in the community; and to educate the community on sustainable, organic gardening practices. “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy Our Values and Action Statement We Value… Life, and to that end, our community garden will promote the use of safe, organic pesticides and employ natural wild animal repellents. Water, and to that end, our community garden will use techniques designed to carefully monitor water usage and minimize our demands on the watershed. Community, and to that end, our garden will be open to anyone in the community who wishes to participate, regardless of age, ability or knowledge. We will endeavor to share our knowledge and techniques with the community, Family, and to that end, our community garden will be a safe, positive environment to grow and learn. Our Expression of Purpose Horticultural Awareness Responsibility Vision Education Sustainability Teamwork ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 EVANSTON Acknowledgements The community garden is made possible by the City of Evanston and the Evanston Parks and Recreation District. It will remain available for public use as long as we all share in its care. Management and Operation of the Garden Management and operation of the community garden is coordinated by the City of Evanston in partnership with members of the Evanston Garden Cooperative (EGCOOP). The City Planning and Development Department serves as the lead City department in this effort. Staff members of the Planning Department serve in an advisory capacity to the EGCOOP, as does a student liaison from Evanston High School. All those who have adopted a garden plot are considered to be members of the EGCOOP. Each year at the March meeting of the EGCOOP, a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary/ Treasurer and two At-Large Representatives shall be selected by those members in attendance. The five citizens who serve in this capacity shall do so voluntarily and for a one year time frame. They shall constitute the Board of the EGCOOP, and they shall be responsible for conducting meetings and making voting decisions regarding management and operation of the garden. Unless otherwise scheduled, meetings of the EGCOOP are generally held the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the City Public Works Building. A future goal of the EGCOOP is to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) public non-profit entity. The community garden is a partnership project for the community. The EGCOOP welcomes partnerships with the private and public sectors, community organizations, community non- profits, UCSD youth groups, churches, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Evanston Boys and Girls Club, citizens, and all others. Maintenance of the community garden is the responsibility of the EGCOOP and Friends of the Garden. Friends of the Garden are those who contribute time, materials and equipment, seeds and plants, monetary donations, and other resources that help with the sustainability of the garden. Friends of the Garden will be listed on the EGCOOP sign board. Hours of Use Unless otherwise posted, the community garden is available for use each day from sunrise until 9 p.m., April 15th through the end of November. Please respect this time frame. This is a user friendly garden. The gate into the garden is unlocked. Please remember to close the gate when you leave. Thank you. ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 Parking Please park your vehicle in the parking lot. Pathways Please stay on the pathways between garden plots. Litter Please deposit your trash in the waste containers that are provided for your convenience. There is a large bin for trash including pulled weeds, a container for plastic recyclables, and a container for aluminum recyclables. If the bin and containers are full, please take your trash and recyclables with you. Thank you for removing any other trash that you might see in the garden or parking lot. Music You are free to enjoy music with headphones. Animals Please, no pets in the garden. No Smoking Please remember that smoking is prohibited in the garden. There is a designated smoking area in the parking lot. Please smoke there. No Alcohol Alcohol is not permitted in the garden or parking lot at any time. Kids and Parents Kids, thanks for staying with your family and helping with your garden plot. You and your family will appreciate the joy and benefits of growing your own crops together. It’s a labor of love! Parents, here are some ideas how you can make gardening fun for your kids: Consider setting aside and marking a portion of your garden plot for use by your child or children. Consider creating a container garden using a tire stuffed with straw for potatoes, or a small basket or pot hung from a shepherd’s hook. Mark these small container gardens with your child’s name giving them a sense of ownership and pride. Consider adopting an adjacent garden plot for your kids and their friends to cultivate and take care of. ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 Garden Hoses In the garden, there are frost-free hydrants each with a quad splitter and public hoses available for shared use. You can bring your own hose with you. Please be courteous in the use of the hydrants and the shared hoses. Please conserve the use of water. Please wrap up the hose you are using and place it by a hydrant when you are finished with your gardening activities; or please return hoses to the equipment shed. Please anticipate that water to the frost-free hydrants will be turned off the first part of October or earlier, depending on when the Parks and Recreation Department winterizes irrigation systems in City parks. Please plan on bringing your own water after this time. You can create a drip watering system for your garden plot that does not require your on-site presence. The EGCOOP Board shall first approve a drip watering system before the system is installed. If you use a sprinkler or hose to water your garden plot, you must be present during watering. Please do not leave a sprinkler or hose unattended. This wastes water, causes over- watering, or can lead to flooding of adjacent garden plots. Equipment Shed and Tools The public equipment shed contains hoses and some equipment that is available for shared use. You are responsible for bringing your own garden tools with you. Please do not store your personal tools in the equipment shed. If you do, please know that the tools can be used by other garden users. Small, battery powered tools can be used in the garden. There is no electricity in the garden area. Please lock the shed if you are the last user in the garden. Garden Plots Garden plots are illustrated on the garden site plan. The fee to Adopt-A-Plot is $25 for a standard garden plot, $25 for a raised garden plot, and $50 for a group garden plot. Raised garden plots have a height of approximately thirty inches and are only available for adoption by seniors, aged 60 and over; and by differently-abled persons. If you have adopted a garden plot during a previous season, you will have preference in adopting the same garden plot for the next season, as long as a new Adopt-A-Plot application is submitted and the Adopt-A-Plot fee is paid no later than ten days after March 1st. Garden plots can be re-adopted for the next garden season beginning in January. If a garden plot is not re- adopted and the Adopt-A-Plot fee is not paid within ten days after March 1st, the garden plot will be available for adoption by others on a first-come, first-served basis. ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 Adopt-A-Plot applications can be picked up at City Hall, the City Public Works Building, and the Community Recreation Center. Please return applications and the fee to the Planning and Development Department at the City Public Works Building located at 33 Allegiance Circle. Please make your check payable to the City of Evanston. Garden plots are marked with metal ground stakes and tennis balls covering the ends of the stakes. Garden plot numbers are written on a front corner tennis ball. Please work within your defined garden plot and be considerate of adjacent garden plots. When you tend your garden plot, please remember to bring your Adopt-A-Plot lanyard with you. This indicates that you enjoy the privilege of working in the garden. The community garden will be monitored periodically by City staff. If there is an emergency, please call 911 or Uinta County Dispatch at [PHONE REDACTED]. Vegetables, herbs, flowers, cold weather crops, and similar plants can be planted. Illicit plants shall not be planted. Please try to maintain plants and plant support structures at a height of approximately 54 inches or less. If you are planting tall plants, please plant them in the center area of your garden plot. Please be sensitive to the shadow impact that tall plants, support posts, and other support structures can have on adjacent garden plots. In order to support a sustainable organic garden, please use only organic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. An organic garden means foods grown organically without the use of pesticides, fungicides and inorganic fertilizers. You are responsible for maintaining your garden plot. Garden plots shall be kept reasonably free of weeds. Please collect your garden harvest in a timely manner in order to minimize decay, odor and pests. Except for cold weather crops, please try to have your crop harvest collected by the first part of November. Please try to have the harvest for cold weather crops collected by the end of November. Your garden harvest can be used for personal use, for use at a farmer’s market, or as a donation. In order that garden plots are ready for the next year’s garden season, please ensure that your garden plot is cleared of plants and cleaned by the end of November. Any adopted garden plot that has not been planted by July 1st, has not been reasonably maintained, has not been watered, has become overgrown with weeds, has been neglected, ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 contains wilted, dying or dead plants, or constitutes similar conditions, shall be considered abandoned or a nuisance. The EGCOOP Board shall contact the garden plot user about these conditions. The garden plot user will have ten calendar days to correct the situation. If corrections are not made within this time frame and after having given written notice to the garden plot user about failing to make the corrections, the garden plot user will forfeit further use of the garden plot. A refund of the Adopt-A-Plot fee will not be considered. The garden plot will then be available for adoption by another willing user. If you anticipate being temporarily unable to maintain your plot because of vacation, work commitments, health considerations or other similar measures, please contact the City Planning and Development Department at [PHONE REDACTED] or an EGCOOP Board member, so that volunteers can be enlisted to help tend and care for your garden plot during your temporary absence. Compost Pile The compost pile is contained within a fenced enclosure to help prevent the spread of windblown material. Please, only place garden waste from your garden plot in the compost pile. Trash and debris are not compostable. Please do not discard weeds in the compost pile. Use the trash bin for pulled weeds. Port-O-Potty Please use the Port-O-Potty in the parking lot that is provided for your convenience. Robin Hood Plot The Robin Hood Plot is a public use plot for leftover seeds from garden users. Garden users are encouraged to plant extra seeds in the Robin Hood Plot and to help with its care. The EGCOOP Board hopes that everyone will respect and honor the public purpose of the Robin Hood Plot which is to provide vegetables for those who are hungry or in need. If someone is in the garden to take from other private use garden plots, the EGCOOP Board hopes they will take from the Robin Hood Plot and leave the other plots be. Informational Kiosk An informational kiosk is planned for the entrance into the community garden. The kiosk will include contact information for the EGCOOP Board, members of the EGCOOP, meeting dates and meeting times of the EGCOOP, announcements, a list of community partners and Friends of the Garden, Community Garden Membership and User Policies and Responsibilities, a list of recommended organic materials, a list of recommended plants for Evanston’s climate, a ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 suggestion box, and other important information. Until the kiosk is constructed, this information will be posted on the EGCOOP sign board. Volunteer Time Those who have adopted garden plots are requested to volunteer at least four hours per month to help with ongoing maintenance of the community garden, care of the Robin Hood Plot, and helping others who might be temporarily unable to tend their garden plot. Please call the City Planning and Development Department at [PHONE REDACTED] for a list of garden work tasks and to schedule your volunteer commitment to the well-being of the community garden. Personal Responsibility All garden users are responsible for their own actions. The EGCOOP, the City of Evanston, and the Evanston Parks and Recreation District shall be held harmless for any liability, damage, loss or claim that occurs in connection with use of the community garden by any garden user, their guests, or by any other person.