Old Sauk Community Garden Rules and Expectations

The Old Sauk Community Gardeners are committed to abiding by these rules and expectations to create a beautiful, safe, and functional garden space, foster cooperative and friendly relationships with garden neighbors, gain personal pride and satisfaction from their gardening, and maintain the privilege of gardening in the Old Sauk Community Gardens.

Gardeners are expected to participate in TWO of the SIX scheduled workdays (pre-opening, opening, early summer, midsummer, late summer and closing).  One of the two workdays should be either OPENING OR CLOSING.

Tools such as wheel-barrows, rakes, hoes, pitchforks and some small hand tools are provided in the lean-to and marked with orange tape. Stakes and fencing are not provided.  Do not take materials from the food pantry garden and upper garden shed unless marked with orange tape.  Please clean tools after use and store them neatly in the appropriate area. Community tools should not be stored in your plot.

Gardeners are expected to practice organic gardening methods to grow vegetables and other plants in their gardens.  Do not use herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and/or chemical fertilizers not approved for use in organic gardening.

All plots must be worked by June 1st.  If there is no activity in your plot by that date, it will be reassigned.

Gardeners must not grow invasive plants such as mint, catnip, chives, horseradish, or wild parsnips.  Perennials can be planted in the no-till plots. Gardeners are expected to harvest in a timely manner.  Please consider donating extra harvest to local food pantries such as WayForward and the Lussier Community Education Center. A plastic bin will be placed by the picnic tables where extra harvest can be placed. It will be taken to food pantries on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Please show respect for other gardeners by not entering other plots without permission.  Plants taller than 4 feet must be grown in the center of the plot. Be respectful when putting up your stakes and fences.  PLANTS THAT GROW OVER 5 FEET, SUCH AS CORN AND SUNFLOWERS, SHOULD NOT BE PLANTED.

Gardeners must maintain their plot in a manner that limits the spread of weeds, pests and plants to other garden plots and to areas surrounding the community garden. Newspaper and straw/hay are acceptable mulches for weed control.  

Gardeners are also responsible for keeping the paths around their plots passable and free from debris, weeds, sticks, rocks, and wayward fencing material.  Do not dig or plant outside of your plot boundaries.

Temporary structures such as fencing, stakes, trellises, etc. should be less than 5 ft in height and not shade a neighbor’s plot. Fencing and trellises should be safe 

and tidy.

We encourage you to compost in your own plot (pit composting).  

Take home any diseased or infested plants or plant refuse and garden waste not used for composting. Composting areas are located at the west end of the lower garden and in the food pantry garden in the upper garden. You may place organic material generated in your garden plot in these areas and it will be managed by the compositing committee. Please follow composting instructions posted on the compost bins.  At the end of the garden season, we encourage you to trench compost your organic material or take it home.  Do not put garden waste in the woods or prairie.

Gardeners are responsible for cleaning their plots at least one day before closing.  This means removing all fences, cages, stakes, plants and vines.  All materials should be taken home.  Any fencing, stakes, cages, etc. left behind will be removed.  End of the season plant refuse should be either composted in a trench in your plot or taken home.  No plant refuse will be left on site over the winter.  The garden should appear neat and clean over the winter.

Fencing may be left up in the no-till plots, but all structures, including trellises, row cover, tools, cages, plastic jugs etc. should be removed by closing date.