Garden Rental Agreement

Updated September 1, 2024

The purpose and intent of the Common Ground Garden Society (CGGS) is to provide vegetable gardening opportunities for members and to create a community of gardeners.

Garden bed rental welcomes you into a community of gardeners which includes both privileges and responsibilities. Members are required to take on a volunteer role. You are encouraged to become more deeply involved in the Society including joining the executive, spearheading initiatives, mentorship, or becoming a team lead.

We encourage members to plant a garden heavily weighted to vegetables. Should you choose to plant perennial vegetables they must be placed in the middle of your bed to prevent damage to the bed frames. Should you end up giving up your garden bed, please remove your perennial vegetables before you leave.

Registration & Administration:

This Rental Agreement is for the period between April 1 and November 1 of the calendar year.
Bed rental fees are $25 for a full bed, $20 for a triangle bed, and $15 for a ½ size bed for the season, and are refundable before May 15.
You must have your garden bed planted by June 15 or it will be given to a gardener on the garden waiting list, and there will be no refunds.
You must act as Garden Angel for one week during the season. If you are unable to fulfill your commitment for your chosen week, you MUST find your own replacement.
Each member can rent only one garden bed and that bed is reserved for one season.
If you garden one season you have the opportunity to secure the same bed for the next year by registering online during the early registration period (Nov 1-15) or during our final registration period (Feb 1-15).
If you garden one season and fail to register or to advise of your intention to continue, should you want to rent again, you will be placed on the garden waiting list.
Registration cannot take place unless all requirements are met. This includes:  signing up to volunteer for a garden role for the season, paying the required fee, signing the Garden Rental Agreement, signing up to be a Garden Angel for one week
You are not permitted to give your bed away. If circumstances cause you to no longer be able to continue maintaining your bed, please email hellocggs@gmail.com. Your bed will be repurposed or provided to someone on the garden waiting list. You will be welcome to join again next season.
If you do not maintain your garden bed (seeding, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting), you will be notified and the garden team will repurpose your bed, or provide it to someone on the garden waiting list. The garden team will presume you have abandoned your garden bed if you have not attended to it seven days after they have made two attempts to contact you.
Members must clean out and prepare their garden bed for winter by October 15. You may choose to put down mulch or plant a cover crop.
Members may sign up on the whiteboard in the storage shed to ask the Garden Angel team to water when they are away, for a maximum of two weeks.
If any member does not comply with the Garden Rental Agreement, the garden team may repurpose their bed.
The terms of this Garden Rental Agreement may be changed from time to time by the Common Ground Garden Society executive team and you will be provided notice of the changes.

General:

Please make sure water is turned off at the taps and the storage shed is locked before you leave the garden.
If vandalism or suspicious activity is noted, please take photos (if it is safe to do so) and contact hellocggs@gmail.com and the library at 403-260-2600.
For any questions or comments, please contact hellocggs@gmail.com.

Planting and Upkeep:

You must supply all seeds, seedlings, soil amendments, tomato cages, specialized/other gardening hand tools, and crop labels for your own use. There are tools available for use in the storage shed. Compost will be provided at the beginning of the year.
Do not use synthetic chemical pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. If you are unsure what is acceptable, please contact hellocggs@gmail.com. An organic all-purpose fertilizer is also available in the storage shed.
Use finished compost for soil enhancement instead of animal manure due to E. coli health risk.
You must keep weeds, garbage, and litter out of the garden, and the pathways around the garden. All members are expected to pull the weeds around their beds and the pathways adjacent to their beds. Weeds are to be disposed of in the garbage and not in the compost bin. Photographs and descriptions of common weeds can be found on our website http://www.cggs.ca. A printed copy will also be available in the storage shed.
Water that is available in the garden may be untreated and must not be used as drinking water.
Rain harvesting for edible crops is currently not permitted on public land due to health and safety concerns. Rain barrels are filled from the hoses to ensure availability for use with watering cans in the event water is not available or if hand watering is required due to water restrictions.
You must deal with insect and weed infestations quickly and organically to prevent spread to other beds. For garden-wide infestations, the garden team consults The City of Calgary, Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
You must not grow invasive plant species. Refer to The City of Calgary https://www.calgary.ca/bylaws/preventing-controlling-weeds.html or Alberta Invasive Species Council https://abinvasives.ca/invasive-plants/ for resources. References: http://www.cggs.ca.
During drought and water rationing periods, hand watering only can be used. CGGS will communicate to members specific guidelines and restrictions during these times.
You must follow composting and mulching guidelines as provided by the garden team.
You can install trellises that are no taller than four feet and which are stable in all weather conditions. Neither trellises nor plants are permitted to shade other beds. You must minimize damage to beds when affixing trellises.
Perennial flowers and shrubs are not permitted in member beds.

Harvest:

Pick produce when it is ripe. Only pick produce and flowers from your own garden bed or from a community bed (e.g. herb beds) as permitted.
Ripe produce that is not harvested after reminder messages will be harvested and donated to organizations assisting hungry families.

Garden Angel Duties:

Water is generally available from early May to early October during daytime hours and water availability will be communicated.
Ensure water barrels are kept topped up in case of unplanned water outages.
Water plants in communal herb beds (41, 44), trellis beds around the seating area(42, 45), cedar flower boxes by the picnic table, and the donation beds as needed.
Check the whiteboard inside the storage shed for any messages, and accommodate requests to water beds of absent gardeners. Gardeners are asked to find someone else to water and maintain their garden bed in the event they will be away for more than two weeks.
Water shrub beds under the eaves (where rain barrels are located) and water shrubs and flowers under the eaves by the library wheelchair entrance (north side of the building).

Additional Garden Angel Information :

Garden Angel Duties and the bed map layout are posted inside the storage shed door and on our website http://www.cggs.ca.  

As a Garden Angel, it is your responsibility to reach out and contact your fellow Garden Angel partner(s) with whom you are sharing your chosen week, to co-ordinate and share garden angel duties. 

Membership:

Respect other members.
Limit of one garden bed per member or member family.
No pets in the garden.
Take responsibility for any non-members accompanying you in the garden.
Do not smoke in the garden or permit any guests to smoke.
Members are expected to participate in compost day, planting day, fall cleanup, and other work parties as needed.
Clean shared garden tools and put them back into the storage shed after using them.

Social:

All members are invited to all social gardening events such as planting days, “Mingle and Munch” potlucks, gardening coaching sessions, etc. Information will be posted on our website http://www.cggs.ca and communicated to gardeners.
Members are encouraged to attend learning opportunities hosted by the Community Garden Resource Network of the Calgary Horticultural Society.

Contact us:
hellocggs@gmail.com
Southwood Public Library
924 Southland Dr. SW
Calgary, AB T2W 0J9© Common Ground Garden Society