Bonavista Downs Community Association (BDCA)

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Gathering Garden Club Membership Agreement

This agreement will be completed prior to rental and must be renewed each year.


This is what I agree to while gardening:

  • Pesticide Free.

  • Use no synthetic chemical pesticides, insecticides or herbicides.

  • Use finished compost for soil enhancement instead of animal manures because of E. coli health risk.

  • No pets in the garden.

  • No smoking in the garden or permit any guests visiting my plot to smoke.

Participation

  • Respect other gardeners.

  • Limit of one garden bed per gardener or garden family.
  • Take responsibility for any non-gardeners accompanying me to the garden.
  • Ensure that children are supervised.

Appearance

  • Keep weeds, garbage and litter out of my garden plot and the paths around the garden.

  • Responsible to help maintain paths and common areas.
  • Have my garden bed planted by June 15 or it will be given to a gardener on the waiting list.
  • Seeds, seedlings, compost, tomato cages, gardening hand tools, and crop labels are my responsibility.

Watering

  • Water available in the garden is treated (potable).

  • 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.
  • During drought and water rationing periods, hand watering only can be used.
  • Conserve water and do not use hoses that leak.
  • Use of the key to unlock water is the responsibility of the gardener.

Promises & Responsibilities

  • Participate in spring and fall cleanups.

  • Grow no invasive plants species (list provided).
  • Follow composting and mulching guidelines as provided by the garden committee shared in a composting learning session.
  • Deal with insect and weed infestations quickly and organically to prevent spread to other plots.  For garden-wide infestations the garden team consults the City of Calgary Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
  • Act as Garden Angel, / Garden Hero / Heroine for one week during the summer. During this week, I will check the entire garden each day.
  • Pick produce when it is ripe.  Only pick produce and flowers from my garden bed.
  • Clean shared garden tools and put them back into the storage shed after using them.
  • Restrict crops which grow over 4 ft. in height to a maximum row length of 4 ft. so as not to shade neighbouring beds.
  • Use trellises that are stable in all weather conditions and do not shade other gardens.
  • Cold frames may be used but cannot be permanently attached to the garden beds.
  • Recycle materials that can be recycled.

Fun & Friendly Gardening

  • I'm invited to all social gardening times such as planting days, potlucks, weeding Wednesdays, sheet mulching parties and events in the garden (music, art, yoga, and gardening coaching sessions).  Dates and times will be posted in the community association newsletter.

  • Gardeners are encouraged to attend learning opportunities hosted by the Community Garden Resource Network of the Calgary Horticultural Society.  Event notices will be sent out by email.
  • I will ask another gardener to water and harvest ripe produce from my garden when I am away.
  • I will clean out and prepare my garden plot for winter and protect the soil from erosion by October 31.
  • Ripe produce from that is not harvested after reminder messages will be harvested at the end of the garden season and donated to organizations assisting hungry families or tilled into the ground to enhance the soil.
  • If I do not carry out these steps, the garden team can re-assign the garden bed I have abandoned to someone on the garden waiting list.

Garden Bed Rental
This garden bed rental agreement is for the period between April 1 and October 31, 20_ _.
Additional people participating in this garden include:
______________         ______________        _____________

  • Gardeners must possess a community association membership.

  • Plot rental fees for gardeners of Gathering Garden Club are refundable before May 1 and non-refundable after that date.
  • By May 1, people new to the garden are assigned plots in order by the date they signed up on the waiting list.

Garden Bed Rental Terms

  • Gardeners resident in Bonavista Downs have first priority for plots.

  • Each gardener can rent one garden bed and that bed is reserved for one season.
  • If I garden one season, I have the first opportunity to get the same plot for the next year by registering for a plot before February 15.
  • I am not permitted to give my plot away. I understand that the garden team coordinates the garden bed rental.
  • If I do not care for the garden bed (seeding, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting), I will be notified and the garden team will rent it to the next person on the garden waiting list.
  • The garden team will assume I have abandoned the garden bed if I have not attended to it 7 days after they have made 2 attempts to contact me.

Liability
Signing this agreement absolves Bonavista Downs Community Association from any liability, financial or otherwise which may result from negligence or the inappropriate use of power and hand tools, either by myself or by others.
As a garden member I agree to be responsible for the completion and maintenance of this task:
Communication Team, Compost Team, Construction & Repair Team, Finances Team, Garden Angel / Garden Hero Team, Social Team, and Watering Team
Date: __________________
Signature: ___________________________
Witness: ____________________________