Blog

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to welcome everyone back to the garden for another great season! A special welcome to new community members!

We are planning our season opening and first garden gathering – details:

• Opening Day: Saturday April 6th, Rain Date April 7th
• Coffee and morning snacks will be provided
• Introductions and opening remarks
• Work Session – we plan to clean up the perimeter of the garden and clear weeds that are growing into pathways. Please make sure to bring gloves, pruners and loppers (if you have them) and be prepared to put in an hour or so to help us do some spring cleaning!
• Roto-Tilling – we will offer free roto-tilling for gardeners again this year. This is a fantastic way to get a jump start on the season and get ahead of the weeds from the beginning! A specific follow-up email will be sent shortly regarding roto-tilling.

GARDEN OPERATING DETAILS

1. Payment Policy:
   1. Payments are due, IN FULL, by May 1st. 
   2. After May 1st, you have 15 more days to pay and retain your spot, but there will be a $10 late fee.
   3. If we do not receive payment by the 15th, your plot will be reassigned to someone on our waiting list ON May 16th.
   4. The fee remains the same: $35 for one plot, $70 for two plots, $105 for three plots.
   5. Make Check payable to: Wareham Community Garden
   6. Send Check to: PO Box 185, Wareham MA 02571
2. Website:Yes, we have a website! A huge thanks to fellow community member, Carl Schulz, for contributing the website and its administration to us! With your annual enrollment to the community garden, you will receive periodic updates about the garden from the website. Please check it out. If you have comments, questions, or content you would like added, let us know!!! https://warehamcommunitygarden.org/ 
3. Resources we provide for you:
   1. water – we pay for this, so please be careful to not leave spigots on. Report any leaky spigots to us immediately!
   2. mulching hay: this is old hay that has been aged in a very hot hayloft for 2 years – any hay seeds present will be dead. This makes an excellent mulch for
      1. weed suppression
      2. moisture conservation in the soil
   3. composted cow manure: aged and well composted cow manure – please add this to your garden to give your plants an extra boost! We will get more throughout the season as needed.
   4. composting bins: We will have a fully renovated and updated composting station. Helpful signs will be posted so you know what you can and can’t add – thanks to community member Lisa Guyot for the huge effort to make composting such a success!
4. Rototilling: We are pleased to be able to offer roto-tilling for gardeners again this year. Please remember this is a volunteer effort. We have some new guidelines we will ask gardeners to follow if you wish to have your plot roto tilled. We will be sending a separate, and more detailed, email about roto tilling very soon. Please know that you will be required to be present and have your plots completely clear of debris before tilling will take place.

MAP Please see the attached map to find your plot number and bed location. Some plots have been combined but they retain separate numbers. This is depicted on the map this year. We will get numbered stakes on the beds sometime this month! If you are new to the garden and unsure how to read the map, please contact us and make arrangements for someone to meet you there to show you.

Gate Lock Code There will be a combination lock on the Walk-In gate to the garden. The code is: 0185 (which is our PO box number with a Zero in front of it!). PLEASE, if no one else is at the garden when you leave, LOCK the gate behind you.

UNTENDED PLOTS 

Part A: Gardeners have until June 1st to show signs of planting their gardens. Such gardeners will be contacted by the Steering Committee to see if help is needed. If, by June 15th, the garden remains untouched or BARELY touched, the plot will be reclaimed by the Steering Committee and assigned to someone on our waiting list. Refunds of your annual fee will not be given.

Part B: We will have a much lower tolerance for untended, excessively weedy, and overgrown plots this year. We will be monitoring plots throughout the season and contacting gardeners who let their plots get too far out of control. If effort is not put into maintaining plots, they will be reclaimed and reassigned to new gardeners next year.

Part C: Excessive unharvested produce: We are starting a gleaning campaign this year. If you are having trouble keeping up with harvest, or if we notice that your garden is not being harvested and fruits are consistently being left to rot, we will contact you and ask for permission to glean produce and send it to Damien’s Food Pantry.

Gardening Guidelines : Please take a moment to look at the attached gardening guidelines and refresh your memories on our guidelines.

1. NOTE about DOGS: Dogs are permitted in the garden ONLY if on a leash.
2. Garden Cleanliness – please read the section about garden cleanliness closely. Gardeners are required to maintain their plots and prepare them properly for winter at the end of the year.

TRASH Removal: We do NOT provide trash removal. Please do your part to keep our garden clean and tidy and carry out what you carry in.

WAIVER If you are new to the garden, please print the attached waiver, sign it and return to us. 

Those are enough details for now, welcome to the 2024 season at the Wareham Community Garden! We are looking forward to another stellar year gardening with you all!

in kindness,

your humble community garden steering committee– 

Lisa Guyot

Anne Kirschmann

Carl Schulz

Ann Shor

Sandy Slavin

Ayres Souza

Hannah Traggis
Steering Committee of the Wareham Community Garden

PO Box 185 Wareham, MA 02571

https://warehamcommunitygarden.org/
Facebook Community Page: Wareham Community Garden