Please refer to the member’s signed Rental Agreement for the current version.

* In-person registration has been replaced by online.

Registration & Administration

1. This Rental Agreement is for the period between April 1 and November of this calendar year.
2. Bed rental fees are $25 for full bed, $20 for triangle bed and $15 for ½ size bed for the season and are refundable before May 15.
3. You must have your garden bed planted by June 15 or it will be given to a gardener on the waitlist.
4. You must act as Garden Angel for one week during the season.
5. Each member can rent only one garden bed and that bed is reserved for one season.
6. If you garden one season you have the first opportunity to secure the same bed for the next year by registering at the fall sign-up meeting which will take place no later than December 31.
7. If you garden one season and fail to register at the fall sign-up meeting or fail to advise of your intention to continue, you will be placed on the wait list in priority to new applicants and may then register at the spring sign-up meeting which will take place no later than May 15.*
8. At the sign-up meeting you must sign up for a garden duty, pay the required fee, sign the Rental Agreement, and sign-up to be a Garden Angel. Registration cannot take place unless all requirements are met at the sign-up meeting. You may have your bed member, family member, or friend attend the sign-up meeting for you provided that all requirements are met. You must send a signed Rental Agreement with your representative as they cannot sign the Rental Agreement on your behalf.
9. You are not permitted to give your bed away.
10. If you do not care for the garden bed (seeding, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting), you will be notified and the garden team will rent it to the next person on the garden waiting list.
11. The garden team will assume you have abandoned the garden bed if you have not attended to it 7 days after they have made 2 attempts to contact you. Your bed may then be reassigned.
12. Members must clean out and prepare their garden bed for winter and protect the soil from erosion by November 1.
13. Members may sign up on the whiteboard in the shed to ask another member or the Garden Angel to water and harvest ripe produce from their bed when they are away.
14. If any member does not comply with the Rental Agreement, the garden team may re-assign their garden bed to someone on the garden waiting list.
15. The terms of this 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.

Planting and Upkeep

1. You must supply all seeds, seedlings, compost, tomato cages, gardening hand tools, and crop labels for your own use.
2. Do not use synthetic chemical pesticides, insecticides, herbicides or fertilizers.
3. Use finished compost for soil enhancement instead of animal manures because of E.coli health risk.
4. You must keep weeds, garbage and litter out of the garden and the paths around the garden.
5. Water available in the garden may be untreated and must not be used as drinking water.
6. Rain harvesting for edible crops is currently not permitted on public land due to health and safety concerns. Rainwater harvesting is fine for ornamental flowers, shrubs and trees.
7. 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).
8. You must not grow invasive plants species.
9. During drought and water rationing periods, hand watering only can be used.
10. You must follow composting and mulching guidelines as provided by the garden team.
11. You can install trellises that are no taller than four (4) 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.

Harvest

1. Pick produce when it is ripe. Only pick produce and flowers from the member’s own garden bed or from a community bed as directed.
2. Ripe produce that is not harvested after reminder messages will be harvested and donated to organizations assisting hungry families or tilled into the ground to enhance the soil.

Garden Angel Duties

1. Based on the last season, water is available from 6am – 9pm everyday.
   The water runs on 4hr intervals with 10 to 30 minute periods when it is off, usually at 10am, 2pm and 6pm.
2. Ensure water barrels are kept topped up in case of unplanned water outages.
3. Water plants in communal herb beds (41, 44), trellis beds (42, 45) around seating area, cedar flower boxes by picnic table, and donation beds as needed.
4. Check notice whiteboard inside the shed for any messages, and accommodate requests to water beds of gardeners who are absent.
5. Water shrub beds under the eaves (where rain barrels are located) and water shrubs and flowers by library wheelchair entrance (north side of building).
   Additional Garden Angel Information
   – Garden Angel Duties and the bed map layout are posted inside tool shed door.
   – If you have a Garden Angel partner, feel free to contact them to co-ordinate and share angel duties and times prior to your week.
   – Please make sure water is turned off at taps before you leave the garden.
   – If vandalism noted, please contact hellocggs@gmail.com and library at 403-260-2600
   – For any questions or comments, please contact hellocggs@gmail.com.

Courtesy

1. Respect other members.
2. Limit of one garden bed per member or member family.
3. No pets in the garden.
4. Take responsibility for any non-members accompanying you in the garden.
5. Ensure that any children with you under the age of 12 are supervised.
6. Do not smoke in the garden or permit any guests to smoke.
7. Participate in spring and fall cleanups and other work parties as needed.
8. Clean shared garden tools and put them back into the storage shed after using them.
9. Join the Membership Team, Financial Team, Maintenance Team, Social Team or Communication Team or become part of the Executive.

Social

1. When SAFE: 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 website and communicated to gardeners.
2. members are encouraged to attend learning opportunities hosted by the Community Garden Resource Network of the Calgary Horticultural Society.