Community Garden at Kilbourn Park
Information, Rules, and Expectations
Please Read & Keep
PLOT AND SITE CARE: You are responsible for your own plot and the abutting paths. It is best garden plots are cared for at least once a week. (Remember, the best fertilizer is the shadow of the gardener!)
At the end of the season we will schedule several Project Days to tidy up and mulch the plots, top-dress with an organic soil amendment and plant a fall cover crop.
WEEDS: Please keep weeds under control. As we are starting with top quality compost in our beds, and encouraging the practice of intensive farming, your plants will probably shade out weeds once they have gotten a good start.
ILLNESS/VACATION: If you are unable to care for your plot for a time because of illness or vacation, find someone to care for your plot in your stead or notify Community Garden. [See contact information below]
ABANDONED PLOTS: If you can no longer tend your garden, move away, or change your phone number or email address, please notify Community Garden. If plots appear to be abandoned, we will do our best to contact the gardener. If we cannot contact the gardener, we will assign the plot to be cared for by someone else or by our garden interns. This will include harvesting the crops.
ANNUAL REAPPLICATION NECESSARY: All gardeners must apply to Community Garden each year.
PLOT LIMITS: Although gardeners must re-apply for their plot in the Community Garden every year, there is always an option on the application form for gardeners to select to keep the plot they had the year before. They can also choose to change their plot location, requesting plots with, for example, more sun or in a different section of the garden. When we are assigning plots for the new season, we give first priority to gardeners from past years.
It is important for gardeners to remember, however, that they must reapply for their garden plots; they cannot assume that they will have the plots they had the year before. If they do not reapply, we reassign their plots to new gardeners. We also make every attempt to contact gardeners from the previous year before we reassign their plots.
GOOD NEIGHBORS: Keep your plants within your own plot. If you grow plants 4 feet high or taller, plant them in the middle of your plot so your neighbor’s plot will not be shaded, or ask your neighbor for permission to plant them on the edge. If you grow spreading plants, be sure there is room in your plot.
PATH CARE and TRASH: Keep paths free of trash, rocks or weeds. There is a “berm,” a long, narrow pile, along the western edge of the garden area where we deposit weeds and dead plants from the gardens. Because we have encountered some problems with blight in our plants, we have decided not to use compost from garden plants on our beds. However, we fall-plant sunflowers and other ornamentals in the compost “berm,” creating a beautiful border to our garden area.
PROBLEM PLANTS: Please do not plant Jerusalem artichokes, mints (including catnip), Comfrey, horseradish, or other root plants that spread. They live through the winter and may be problems next year for you or someone else.
VANDALISM AND THEFT: The Community Garden does not post any kinds of guards or patrols. Theft applies not only to vegetables but to compost and any garden property such as tools. Please help by being “eyes and ears” for yourself and your neighbors. Don’t hesitate to call the police if you see any vandalism or theft, or you may also contact Community Garden.
MULCH: Biodegradable mulch such as compost, leaves, straw, and hay are acceptable and encouraged. Do NOT use carpet mulch, stone mulch, and wood chips in garden plots.
TOOLS: Gardeners are responsible for their own gardening tools. The Community Garden cannot be responsible for loss or theft of tools.
WATER: Water will be available for the 2011 season from the hydrant. Please be sure to turn off the spigot at the hydrant if you are the last gardener to leave the garden.
CHILDREN: Parents or accompanying adults are responsible for children. Teach your children the garden rules, especially to respect others’ plots and the water system.
PARKING: Please do not drive on the grass. Parking is available on the streets around the Community Garden, but probably the best way to get to the garden is on foot or by bike. We are looking into getting bike racks installed near the garden.
HERBICIDES: No non-organic herbicides (weed-killers) are allowed in the Community Garden.
PEST CONTROL: Gardeners are encouraged to employ their own organic pest control methods. Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are strictly prohibited. If you have a problem, please feel free to contact the Community Garden and we will do our best to advise you.
PETS: Dogs are allowed in the garden area but they must be on leash. No dogs, leashed or unleashed are allowed in the actual plots themselves.
WHO TO CALL: When we say “contact the Community Garden,” you can call the following people:
Kris Peterka, Riverwest Health Initiative: 414-263-8383 ext. 139
Jan Christensen, YMCA-CDC Community Organizer: 414-430-4795
A group of interested neighbors came together in 2009 to plan the Community Garden. Since that time we have developed some procedures and updated our rules. We hope you will join our on-line group and help us make decisions through an on-line consensus process. We will be sending out information about the garden, so please provide your email address or check our blog, victorygardenmke.wordpress.com. If gardeners are not online, we make every effort to contact them and inform them of project days, celebrations and policy changes. Thanks for your participation.
WE NEED HELP! Hello my fellow community friends & neighbors: You may have seen me out in the gardens or outside my home. My home faces the garden. I have labeled my family and I the “Garden Police”. We really have had to police the Kilbourn Park for the last two years now. This is no joke. The problems are vast.
People are continually stealing the crops. This happens ALL throughout the summertime. Last year I spent over $40.00 dollars on plants. I worked hard planting, weeding, watering them and caring for them – even placed a flag in the corner of my bed to identify it from afar. When it was time for harvesting, all my good veggies were gone!! People have continued to steal other people’s crops right in front of our eyes. When approached by a member of my family, they have used vulgar language, saying things I can’t even repeat! They have thrown tomatoes among other items at our house and blatantly lied to us, saying things like -”Look around, there’s plenty of free stuff for everyone!” or “My church sent me here.” “I didn’t know this wasn’t free.”
I am quite sure those of you who have a garden bed have certainly felt this loss. There must be a way we can keep those who do not have an assigned garden bed “OUT” of the area. Some people have said to us, “It looks free to anyone who wants it! ” as they walk away with their bags filled. They continue to ignore our pleas to just leave the area and not steal the items. They ignore our concerns and questions; they just run around from one bed to another, taking whatever they please. People have been in the gardens with actual grocery bags in-hand, filling them up with whatever they want! One can certainly recognize that they don’t belong nor do they have a bed because they go from one bed to another -running aimlessly for the goods. Leaving with tons of our food! Watching this is very frustrating. By the time the police arrive, they are gone.
Another concern is what the beds also attract…homeless people and vandals. There are people who have come during the night using the garden beds as a place to hang out. We have found broken glass bottles of alcoholic beverages on the side walks and in the gardens. Trash around our home and in the garden bed areas. We even found a couple (during the night last summer) in the very middle of the garden -when it was fully grown- fornicating! When we heard loud noises coming from the center of the garden, my husband yelled out to the couple to leave the area. Upon exiting the garden, a woman came out pulling up her pants and then her partner pulling her by the arm in the opposite direction of our home! We called the police but again they arrived too late. I have children and this was very disturbing to us. I am sure those of you who have children agree. I know that COA cares for children in our community and they do not condone this behavior. But this is a problem for us as parents.
Another problem we have are the people who bring their animals more often now than ever before. The dogs are not on leashes nor do the owners pick up their feces afterward. The gardens truly attract more spectators with their dogs than children. They allow the animals to run in and out of the bed area. Like a maze. At times it seems amusing for the owners.
Even if my family and I choose not to participate in this garden, it will continue to affect us personally. It brings problems into our very own backyards. Ever since Victory Garden began there has been an increasing problem with rodents running rampant in our yard. Personally, they cause huge issues with our family dog. Not only is our family pet in distress with these creatures on her territory, she is also in danger. These large (the size of a raccoon or larger) rodents attack our pet. She has even been bitten by one in the past. The vet bill was massive as she needed shots and bandages for her wound. Not only do I feel she is in danger, my children are as well. And not only are my children in danger, others are as well. There are numerous youngsters in the area and I know they are just as, if not more, susceptible to encounters with these vermin. These rodents have made huge holes in our yard, digging their way into our shed and under our fence. This is definitely something that must be addressed immediately, as it is far more detrimental than theft and inappropriate behavior and conduct.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to resolve the many problems we have please let me know. We’d like to work with our community to solve these issues. The concept of the garden was a good one. However, unforeseen complications have arisen and something must be done about them. This garden was supposed to benefit the community and create a better area for us and our children. But it has only attracted various unwanted attention.
This used to be a tranquil and beautiful area of greenery that we could come out of our home and enjoy for the last 30 years. This is not the case any longer. We need your suggestions and to help restore our confidence in this community-based project.
Thank you.