Sample Garden Schedule
January
General Activities
Garden leaders initial meeting
- Continue to recruit leaders for your garden project.
- Assign leaders committees that include: core project organizers, finances, education, site planning and construction, materials and resources, recruiting, and communication/community relations.
- Each 'committee' should plan to meet monthly, determine the goals and objectives for the upcoming season, and report back to the core organizing committee.
Make presentations to the community and to potential sponsors.
Host your own information night, or offer to speak at community conferences, schools, churches, service groups, and agency functions to promote your garden project, and to recruit new participants, volunteers and garden leaders
Evaluate numbers of garden participants.
- Contact last season's participants to renew their participation.
- Formalize a strategy to recruit more participants if space is available.
Follow up on sponsorship letters.
- Requests sent to corporations in November/December.
- Check private and public funding foundation deadlines for proposal requests. Many are due between March 1 and April 30 each spring.
February
Committee Work
Site Planning, Materials and Resource
- Order seeds for common crops (if this is mandated by the larger group).
- Review site layout, water, soil requirements, tools and materials; plan strategy to meet these needs.
Water Needs Calculation Worksheet
(Excel file, courtesy S. Johnson, Terwillegar)
Education
- Plan garden workshops for garden participants. Topics include: create planting schedules, order seeds to take advantage of buying in bulk, get supplies for indoor plantings, determine other training needs set dates and locate appropriate instructors and resources.
Core Organizing
- Review the garden 'by-laws' and the contract or agreement each participant will sign. Review fees (if applicable).
- Decide about a garden coordinator. Begin recruiting for one.
Recruiting and Communication/Community Relations
- Continue to make presentations to the community and potential sponsors.
- Continue to recruit for new garden participants and volunteers.
- Submit an article in the local newspaper to create an interest in gardening and your community project.
Financial
- Meet with other committees to determine needs for funding and sponsorship.
- Follow up on sponsorship requests.
March
Committee Work
Organizing
Education
If you haven't already done so, begin Garden meetings with participants should be education focused, helping them in planning, teaching garden skills and to encourage starting some of their plants indoors.
Site Planning, Materials and Resource
Implement strategies for site layout, water, soil requirements, tools and materials.
Recruiting and Communication/Community Relations
Continue recruiting garden participants.
April
Garden Coordinator and Committee Work
Site Planning, Materials and Resource
- Conduct a soil test (if it wasn't done in the fall) as soon as the garden soil permits.
- Tour the garden site, spring clean up and stake out garden, weather and site conditions permitting. If the ground is frozen or too wet and cold, stay out of the garden. You will harm the soil structure, and set your schedule back by doing so.
- Make available appropriate soil amendments for either the gardeners apply, or a volunteer committee to apply.
Recruiting and Communication/Community Relations
- Continue to recruit garden participants and volunteers.
- Plan an orientation meeting with all the gardeners
- Review rules and regulations, get a commitment in the form of registration fees, signing agreements, or verbal notification, and assign garden plots.
- Determine levels of gardening skills and their needs.
- Encourage involvement in committee work.
- Work out a schedule for future meetings this month. Additional garden meetings with participants should be education focused, helping them in planning, teaching garden skills and to encourage starting some of their plants indoors.
- Some crops can be planted in April. Gardeners with season extenders will also be able to garden in April.
May
General Activities
- Complete site clean up, staking, and bed preparation.
- Transplants and warm loving crops are planted after the May 24 weekend.
Garden Coordinator and Committee Work
Communication/Community Relations
- Plan a hospitality night: an outdoor function to bring all the participants together. Invite volunteers, sponsors, and the local media. Meeting together and sharing food will develop a sense of community. It is also a good time to review housekeeping rules, check to see if gardeners need any help. Garden coordinator may demonstrate how to prepare garden bed, setting up a demonstration plot for teaching throughout the year.
- Begin a monthly newsletter.
Finance, Site Planning, Materials and Resources
Acknowledge sponsors in writing and on site signage.
June
General Activities
- Continue to plant warm loving seeds and seedlings.
- Plant second crop of cool crops: salad greens, peas, carrots, etc.
- Weed, stake vine crops such as tomato, pea, squash, cucumber, beans. Mulch garden plots and paths.
Garden Coordinator and Committee Work
Site Planning, Materials and Resources
- Implement plan to maintain site: mowing, weeding of borders and that garden participants are able to fulfill their maintenance obligations.
- Ensure water system is adequate.
Education
Plan educational meetings this month: ie composting, insect and disease control.
Communication/Community Relations
Monthly newsletter.
July - August
Garden Coordinator and Committee Work
Materials and Resources
- Abandoned plots can be reassigned or seeded with a cover crop.
- Evaluate maintenance, mulching, composting and water systems.
Education
Plan educational meetings this month: harvesting, food preserving, cooking with herbs or new foods, seed saving, fall planting, preparing the garden for winter.
Communication/Community Relations
- Plan a garden tour: invite the community, volunteers, sponsors, media. Be sure there is food to share and enjoy. Perhaps encourage a theme: pride, or sharing of ethnic dishes from the foods grown in the garden
- Determine where surplus food can go, and if the group will coordinate this.
- Write an article in the local community newspaper.
- Monthly newsletter.
September
General Activities
- Continue the harvest.
- Fall planting of food crops, cover crops, flower bulbs.
Garden Coordinator and Committee Work
Communication/Community Relations
- Plan a harvest party towards the end of the season. Conduct an evaluation survey of the gardeners. Ask for garden leaders for next season. Set a date for a one day clean up of site.
- Monthly newsletter.
Late September–October
General Activities
- Garden cleanup for fall.
- Be sure to have food for the participants.
- Delegate tool repairs that can be done during the winter. Make repairs to tool shed, fences, etc.
- Prepare water and compost system for the winter.
- Plant cover crops.
Committee Work
- Evaluate project and plan changes for next season.
- Write annual report.
- Complete any final reporting to funding agencies if applicable.
- Update your list of resources acquired in the past season with a note of what you might be needing next season.
- Update garden participant and volunteer list for correct contact information.
- This is the season to thank sponsors if you haven't already done so. Perhaps submit an article in the local community newspaper to highlight the successes of the garden, and to recruit new leaders and gardeners for next year's activities.
October–December
Review resource requirements and funding for the next season. Write letters to potential corporate sponsors and include an information packet about the garden. If appropriate, include pictures.
Information packet should contain:
- a one page description of the garden project
- its mission statement, goals and objectives
- numbers of participating members
- what is grown
- background information of sponsoring agency or group (if applicable)
- names addresses and phone numbers of the organization committee and garden coordinator
- letters of support
- details of how sponsors' contributions are acknowledged and recognized
Make presentations to the community and to potential sponsors. Host your own information night, or offer to speak at community conferences, schools, churches, service groups, and to promote your garden project, and to recruit new participants and garden leaders.
Set a date in January for your first meeting as garden leaders to begin planning for the new gardening season.