Mirrormont Pea Patch Garden Rules: 1/31/10 draft
The Pea Patch Committee has adapted rules from Marymoor and King County community gardens for use during our first year. These rules will be reviewed and revised as needed. Items in italics are under evaluation and investigation.
The Pea Patch rules are designed to help the garden run smoothly for all. We appreciate the cooperation and community spirit that makes this a successful community garden. However, any gardener who continues to break these rules after warning will lose their plot(s) with no refund.
CONTENTS
- 1. Obtaining a Plot
- 2. Pea Patch Calendar
- 3. Volunteer Commitment
- 4. Keeping your plot
- 5. Use and maintenance
- 6. Water
- 7. Invasives
- 8. Organic gardening required
- 9. Behavior
1) OBTAINING A PLOT:
a. Mirrormont Pea Patch is open to Mirrormont residents who are paid members of the Mirrormont Community Association. To participate in the Mirrormont Pea Patch there is an additional annual fee to cover water and common costs. Group purchases can save us all money. The time period covered is from January through December each year. Gardeners are subject to these rules.
b. Each raised bed is 4-feet wide by 8-feet long; unframed plots are 8-feet by 8-feet, and 8-feet by 16-feet. They may be cultivated year round. The annual dues for up to three raised beds is $15, and for 8×8 plots are $10, and 8×16 plots are $15, including water.
c. The maximum number of plots that a first-year gardener may rent is one.
d. Plots may be shared among residents.
e. Applications must be submitted by: April 1
f. Returning gardeners have first preference to the plots they rented the previous year as long as their applications and payments are received by the deadline set by the Committee and they have complied with garden rules.
g. Assignment of space is to returning gardeners and then first come/first served. Once all plots are allocated a waiting list will be maintained.
h. Applications received after the deadline will be assigned space as available.
i. When you no longer want your plot, you must notify the Pea Patch registrar. You cannot give your plot to others.
2) PEA PATCH CALENDAR
a. Applications must be received April 1st.
b. Plots will be assigned beginning February 26th.
c. Growing season – April 15 to October 31st: During the growing season, you are responsible for maintaining your plot.
d. Use deadline: Plots not worked by May 15th or being used for storage only may be reassigned at the discretion of the Pea Patch Committee.
e. Availability: January to December. Water is turned off from approximately October 31—April 15 for winterization, but gardening can continue.
3) VOLUNTEER COMMITMENT
a. Gardeners are responsible for contributing 8 hours per plot each year for the common areas of the garden (not inside your plot). Completing and recording hours is your responsibility. In addition to maintaining the garden, these volunteer hours are important for fulfilling the matching portion of the CPG Small Grant.
b. Tasks for common areas include: weeding paths, maintaining compost bins and worm bins, fence repairs, creating garden art, organizing educational programs.
c. Gardeners are responsible for recording their volunteer hours. Volunteer hours should be recorded on the clipboard by the bulletin board or reported by email to the head of the Pea Patch Committee. The Mirrormont Pea Patch Committee will be monitoring and compiling the volunteer hours throughout the garden season.
d. Volunteer hours must be completed by October 31 every year.
4) KEEPING YOUR PLOT
a. During the gardening season, the Pea Patch Committee monitors plot usage. When plots are untended for more than two weeks, gardeners will be contacted by email and asked to take care of the plot by a certain date. For vacations or extended away-times if you cannot find back-up to weed/water/harvest, contact the Pea Patch Committee and we will try and accommodate your leave.
b. If the Pea Patch Committee contacts you about an untended plot two times in one year and your plot becomes untended a third time, the Committee will reassign the plot without further notice or refund.
c. Violation of Pea Patch rules on gardening, behavior etc. will result in loss of privileges without refund.
5) USE AND MAINTENANCE
a. Motorized vehicles and equipment, with the exception of small rototillers, mowers, and weed-whackers, are not allowed in the gardens.
b. Gardeners are responsible for all tilling, soil amendments, cultivating, weeding, fertilizing, watering, end of season clean up, and all other care of their plots.
c. Garden plots are used for growing vegetables and flowers for the gardener’s own use or for donation to charitable organizations. Growing vegetables and flowers for commercial use is prohibited. Growing trees is prohibited.
d. Gardeners should place any unwanted plant materials in the designated compost areas. Do not pile weeds and rocks in the pathways. Take home any non-plant materials (plastic, wire, trash) not being used in the garden. There is no trash container in the Pea Patch and the trash can in the parking area is NOT for Pea Patch use.
e. Since plots are close together, gardeners must keep plots relatively free of weeds, especially when weeds are seeding, to avoid spreading them to other plots. NO WILDFLOWERS PLEASE.
f. Tall plants (such as corn, sunflowers, or tall trellised plants) that cast extensive shade should be planted where they will not impact adjoining gardens. Tall row plants should be planted in north-south rows. If you grow plants 4 feet high or taller, plant them in the middle of your plot so your neighbor’s plot will not be shaded. Keep your plants within your own plot. If you grow spreading plants, be sure there is room in your plot.
g. You must receive permission from the Pea Patch Committee before building any structure in your plot. Trees, large shrubs and permanent structures are not allowed in plots.
h. Tires are not allowed.
i. When a gardener discontinues gardening at Mirrormont Pea Patch, all perennial plant material, semi-permanent structures, wire cages, etc. must be removed. In particular, large material such as planter boxes, established grape vines, or shrubs are to be removed. Individual gardeners are responsible for clearing the plots and returning them to their original weed-free condition so that they can be assigned to new gardeners. Any abandoned plant material will either be composted or removed.
6) WATER
a. Gardeners must be present at their plots while watering them. Drip irrigation, soaker hoses, and other irrigation may not be left on unattended. (We are investigating the possibility of an automated drip irrigation system).
b. Conservation – Please conserve water as much as possible, and minimize use of sprinklers, especially between 10am – 6pm.
c. Water is to be used only for gardening. Make sure the water is turned off after use.
d. Water is turned off during the winter (usually beginning in mid-October).
e. Gardeners may not keep open containers of water on the premises. These are perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes that may carry and spread viruses that are dangerous to humans.
7. INVASIVES
a. Plants of an invasive nature (such as bamboo or English ivy) are not allowed in the ground. Plants on the State’s Noxious Weed List are not allowed. These plants must be pulled if identified. See http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification.aspx and http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/weeds/WeedLists/2009-King-County-Noxious-Weed-List.pdf
b. To learn more about the current list of noxious or invasive plants go to http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious .
ORGANIC GARDENING REQUIRED
a. GARDEN ORGANICALLY (NO pesticides, NO herbicides, NO weed killers, NO artificial fertilizers). Mirrormont Pea Patch gardeners follow stringent organic gardening standards, wildlife and environmental protection practices, and the legal rules set out by the King County Parks System. Therefore, the use of chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and chemical fertilizers is strictly forbidden (examples include Round Up and Miracle Grow).
b. Use of raw human or animal waste, including “hot or green” manure is not allowed due to environmental and health concerns; however, fully composted manures such as steer or chicken manures are allowed. You may also use other organic fertilizers such as fish meal, bone meal, kelp meal, etc.
c. For information on organic fertilizers and pest control, call the Master Gardener Hotline at 206-296-3440.
9) BEHAVIOR
a. Dogs and other animals are NOT allowed in the garden area at any time.
b. There is no smoking allowed in the gardens at any time. Research shows that tobacco can transmit a virus to tomatoes.
c. Use common courtesy and resolve differences in a neighborly way. For problems with fellow gardeners, stay polite and listen carefully; usually solutions are easily reached. Verbal or physical abuse will not be tolerated. Contact the Pea Patch Committee for more serious difficulties.
d. Loud radios are prohibited.
e. Closely supervise your children; help them learn respect for gardening and boundaries. Children using tools in the garden must be under direct and constant supervision of a parent or responsible adult. “Direct” means to be within talking distance.
f. When not in use, tools, hoses, and other equipment cannot be left in the pathways. Paths must remain clear.
g. As a courtesy to other gardeners, please do not walk on someone else’s plot or pick their produce unless invited.
h. Removal of vegetables, flowers, or garden equipment without the owner’s consent, or the intentional damage to a garden plot is subject to prosecution in accordance with King County Ordinance 6798:7.12.550.7.
i. If you witness or experience garden theft or vandalism, notify police by calling 206-296-3311 to file a report, email other PeaPatchers, and report to the Mirrormont Community Association at www.mirrormont.org.
j. The Mirrormont Pea Patch is not responsible for loss of garden products.
Any gardener found to be in violation of the community garden rules will be asked to leave the garden.