Florence First Harvest Guidelines

Florence First Harvest Community Garden Program 

Policies and Procedures

Registration Information

Garden Managers: 

15th Street Garden: Gayle Sisson, email: gaylesisson1@gmail.com, 541 999-1172

3rd Street Garden: Joanna Henderson, email: joannabh86@yahoo.com, 541 999-2550

New Gardeners

Florence First Harvest sponsors a community garden on land donated by the 

Methodist Church, on Kingwood Street in Florence, originally sponsored and 

supported by Rotary. We also sponsor a new garden on the old Senior Center

site on 15th Street. Both are within City limits. We are now a self-supporting 

entity made up of the garden members of both sites.

Unlike other community gardens there are no expensive user fees. However,

we do have maintenance expenses and yearly water, soil and fertilizer needs. 

We are dependent on the commitment of our gardeners to keep these gardens in operation.

To do this, we suggest a donation of $15.- $20 per box, per year to help with 

these expenses, and encourage those who can't participate financially to commit 

to helping with composting and maintenance.

New box assignments will be given on a “first come, first served” basis. 

Please email your intention to acquire gardening space, along with your questions to
joannabh86@yahoo.com, for the Methodist Church Garden. 

Those who are interested in renewing or signing up for the first time at the 15th Street garden, 
please email Gayle Sisson at gaylesisson1@gmail.com. We will need your contact information: 
name, address, phone number, and email address.

The last day to apply for a new box is February 15th. Gardeners will be notified 

of assignments by telephone or email, and must respond by February 28th. If you 

miss the deadline, the assignment may be given to someone else.

The waiting list is effective for the current year only. Gardeners will not be assigned 

more than two boxes, and the second box only when the waiting list has been satisfied.

Those who have not been assigned a box can reapply the next year, or stay in contact 

with garden managers for vacancies.

If this is your first gardening season, you should expect to commit time and energy

to your box(es) from May to August. Many gardeners continue to plant and harvest 

through fall and winter, depending on the weather and kind of crop. For those who 

don't, we recommend that nitrogen fixing crops such as clover or fava beans be 

planted for natural fertilizer for the coming spring. 

The 3rd street garden is run according to organic guidelines. We ask that in such 

close proximities, gardeners be aware of disease and pest problems which can impact 

all those who garden around you. For example, we discourage the growth of large 

squash plants that spread powdery mildew to other garden boxes.

Help with organic methods of containment are available on-line, on this blog, and from the garden managers. By faithfully maintaining your box, you will protect it and your neighbors.

Returning Gardeners

All current box holders for the Methodist Church garden should contact Joanna Henderson by January 31st to renew box assignments , and make sure she has your current contact information.

All current box holders for the 15th Street site should contact Gayle Sisson by January 31st to renew box assignments. 

Otherwise, call to make arrangements. If a gardener does not respond by this date,

and has not made other arrangements, the box or boxes will be considered vacant 

and may be assigned to a new gardener.

____________________________________________________________________

The Community Garden is a public facility and one gardener’s actions may impact another’s use and enjoyment of the site. In order to effectively manage and protect the community resource and assure that everyone can enjoy the community gardening experience, please regard the following.

Guidelines

In view of the community garden’s size, our emphasis should be placed

on helping each other and respecting each others gardening efforts. Let’s fulfill

the garden’s function as a community project as well as serving individual box holders:

¶ If you bring a dog into the garden, please keep it under control and remove any

dog waste. Please keep males from “marking” boxes.

¶ Please be conscientious about water usage. At the Methodist Church,15th Street gardeners pay the City for water. So please be conscientious and turn all faucets off after use. 

Please roll up hoses. They are a danger for tripping if left out on the ground.

Our climate appears to be changing and it will be difficult to determine water needs

from one season to the next. As a rule, after seeds and sprouts are established, water

deeply two or three times a week during the growing season. Deep watering less

frequently promotes deep rooting and drought tolerance while saving water.

¶ Please respect the rights and privacy of neighbors of the garden and be considerate

when driving or parking in the vicinity.

¶ If you plant sprawling vegetation,  please plant it toward the center of your box.

¶ You are responsible for registering with garden managers each spring for a box assignment or re-assignment. Having contact information on file will ensure that you are notified of box availabilities and important notices in a timely manner.

¶ If you wish to transfer your box to another gardener for any reason, first contact the

garden manager. Gardeners using another gardener’s box for the growing

season may not expect to do so the next season, unless they or the original applicant has

been reassigned to the box. Abandoned boxes will be re-assigned to a registered gardener.

¶ If you have not expressed intent, or initiated gardening activities by May 31, please

notify Joanna Henderson or Gayle Sisson. In an effort to keep all boxes useful, we will 

re-assign any vacant boxes in June.

¶ Because boxes are not always used by the same gardener every year, the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides is prohibited in the 3rd Street garden. Talk to Gayle Sisson about rules in the 15th Street garden. In the spring there is often an opportunity to purchase organic fertilizer at cost, plus gas. Garden managers will assist those who don’t have access to the internet for information on organic remedies. If information becomes available regarding certain pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, the Community Garden program will evaluate it on a case by case basis.

¶ Gardeners may not harvest flowers or produce from another plot without permission.

¶ The original intention of the garden was to provide space for people to grow their own

food, and pass the excess on to those in need and Food Share.

Growing produce or flowers for sale will result in termination of the assignment.

¶ Unless you consistently organically spray your squash plants in the spring, planting them is discouraged. They overflow into walkways and are subject to powdery mildew, a bacillus that migrates to other garden boxes and destroys plants and their fruits. Once in the soil it cannot be removed, and the next gardener will have diseased plants.

If you do have diseased plants, they must be disposed of in a special trash bag, and not be

put into the compost.

¶ Your garden box must be structurally maintained and be kept free of grass and 

weeds.

¶ All trash, and diseased plant material must be removed from the site.

Keep common areas and walkways clear of garden refuse, hoses, weeds, or other

materials. Use compost bins for disposal of non-diseased garden waste. Contact 

garden managers for rules regarding compost management.

¶ You may not expand your garden into an adjacent box or common area without

permission from garden managers.

If you have gardening problems of any kind, please contact one of the

garden managers. See the beginning of this blog for contact information.

If you experience vandalism or theft, please report it to the

non-emergency police line.

By mid-November, your garden should be winterized (or planted).

All dead garden vegetation must be removed from the box and put 

in the compost bin, or turned in for winter composting. Growing cover

crops is preferred if you are not growing winter vegetables. If you

do neither, cover your box with plastic or leaves to discourage weed

growth through the winter. All miscellaneous items must be removed

from the garden by mid-November. After, that, they will be considered

trash and be removed by the Community Garden program.

                                   Good gardening!