Garden Plot – Havre de Grace Green Team

Unpublished form

HAVRE DE GRACE GREEN TEAM COMMUNITY GARDEN

RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS

As a condition of being allowed to garden at the site, I agree to the following:

I have read and agree to abide by the attached community garden rules. I am duly aware of the risks and hazards that may arise through participation in the Havre de Grace Green Team Community Garden and assume any expenses and liabilities I incur in the event of an accident, illness or other incapacity. If I have had any questions about the Havre de Grace Green Team Community Garden, its nature, risks or hazards, I have contacted the garden leader and discussed those questions with him or her to my satisfaction.
In consideration of being granted the opportunity to participate in the Havre de Grace Green Team Community Garden, I, for myself, my executors, administrators, agents and assigns do hereby release and forever discharge the Havre de Grace Green Team, garden leader, garden committee, other gardeners, and the cooperating landowner from all claims of damages, demands, and any actions whatsoever, including those based on negligence, in any manner arising out of my participation in this activity. I understand that this Release means that, among other things, I am giving up my right to sue for any such losses, damages, injury or costs that I may incur.

I represent and certify that I am 18 years of age or older. I have read this entire Release, fully understand it, and I agree to be legally bound by it.

COMMUNITY GARDEN RULES

You can’t beat the joy of harvesting and eating your own fruits and vegetables. Gardening in a community garden provides a great opportunity to make friends and share gardening tips. To make the gardening experience as enjoyable as possible for everyone, the Green Team Community Garden Committee of fellow gardeners has assembled the following set of rules that should be easy for you to follow. The site leader at your garden will be able to address any questions you may have about the rules. Violation of garden rules may result in loss of gardening privileges as determined by the garden committee.

MAINTENANCE

Each gardener is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of his/her garden plot, such as watering, weeding, and harvesting, and the pathway next to the plot. For this purpose wood chips are provided in the spring, and a layer of impervious material under the wood chips (e.g. landscape cloth or cardboard) should be used to inhibit weeds.
Weeds and diseased and dead plants should be removed from your plot and the site. Place plant waste without soil and root-balls in containers provided at your garden. On Monday morning the city picks up garden waste placed at the curb.
Your garden plot should be cared for regularly (e.g., at least once a week) during the growing season. Arrange for a friend or fellow gardener to help if you are out of town or otherwise can’t work at the plot.
You must contact the garden leader for your site, if you need temporary assistance or are no longer able to tend your plot. An untended plot may be assigned to someone else or covered with a tarp so it is less unsightly and not a source of weeds and pests that infest other plots.
Plants may not protrude into paths or other plots, and protruding plants may be trimmed by the next plot owner. Plants and structures should not shade neighboring plots and should be limited to 6 feet high. Plants with invasive tendencies, e.g. morning glories, mint, horseradish) should be placed in containers.
Smoking, vaping, or chewing tobacco in the garden is not permitted. Tobacco can transmit a deadly virus to tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, okra and other plants in the nightshade family, and cigarette butts are loaded with toxins.
Gardeners may harvest vegetables and flowers from their plot only, with the exception of areas designated as common plots. Gardeners may not plant, weed, water or harvest another gardener’s plot without permission of the plot owner.
At the end of the growing season, gardeners are responsible for clearing their plot of all plant material with the exception of winter crops or perennials in their plots.

VISITORS AND HELPERS ARE WELCOME, BUT…

Be sure that friends who help you to tend your plot have signed, a “Release of All Claims” form, which is available online or in the garden shed.
Persons under the age of 18 working in the garden must be supervised at all times by a gardener (who has signed a release form). The gardener assumes sole responsibility for persons under the age of 18 or any other older persons he or she invites to the garden.
We love pets, but they are not allowed in the garden.
Report theft, vandalism, or unusual activity to the site leader and, if warranted, to the police.

WATER, PESTICIDES, STRUCTURES, ETC.

To conserve water, individual plants should be watered with a watering can or other container. Hoses should be used only to fill a container.
Gardeners should use organic gardening practices as much as possible. The application of herbicides (weed killers) to the garden plots is strictly prohibited. Powerful broad spectrum pesticides are to be avoided because they affect more than the target pest. The University of Maryland’s Extension Service provides advice on gardening techniques at their Grow It! Eat It! website http://growit.umd.edu/, including videos and other information on organic methods of pest control.
Raised beds and frames for climbing plants are permitted. Otherwise, gardeners may not make any permanent changes to the garden without approval of the garden committee.
Gardeners are responsible for their own trash removal (i.e., paper, plastic, metal).

PARTICIPATION IN COMMON TASKS

Gardeners are required to participate in gardening duties that are common to the site, such as filling water containers, erecting or repairing fencing, mowing or weed control. The tasks vary by garden, and the leader for each garden will develop a list of these duties and request your help at designated times.
Each garden has an opening day (April) and closing day (October) which gardeners are expected to attend.