Board approves Guidelines amendment
Rules tightened for neglected plots
The garden board has voted to tighten standards for neglected or abandoned plots.
The changes, which will come into effect in 2025, are detailed in an amendment to the Plot Maintenance section of the Wall Street Community Garden Guidelines.
Previous rules only required gardeners to turn their soil by May 1 and plot maintenance standards were not spelled out.
New rules now require soil to be turned by May 1, plots to be planted by May 25 and gardens to be prepared for winter by Nov. 1.
The new standards also require gardeners to actively use their plots. Up to now, a handful of gardeners, year after year, did little else except turn their soil.
Now the rules state clearly: “Gardeners are expected to use their plots. When plots are neglected or abandoned, gardeners forfeit their membership.”
Under the new requirements, a gardener who fails to maintain their plot according to standards specified in the amended section will be contacted by the board. If the member does not correct deficiencies within two weeks, their plot will be deemed abandoned and their membership cancelled.
Said one board member: “Wait list applicants are waiting for up to five years to be assigned a plot in the garden. It’s very unfair for an existing member to hold onto their plot year after year, but not use it.”
The amended section also includes an existing rule, transferred from the Guidelines Plot Allocation section. This rule, in existence since the garden’s beginnings, says gardeners forfeit their membership if they are unable to work their plot because of illness, absence or other reasons for more than one season (with a provision to apply for an extension).
In the new amendment, the existing rule is tightened in two ways. A member unable to work their plot must notify in advance the Membership Coordinator and must obtain help. The old rule mentioned only the option of assistance, but did not require it.