2022 SIGN UP INSTRUCTIONS:
- Please read the agreement carefully
- Fill out the bottom portion of the form (include garden # if returning gardener or leave blank for new assignment)
- Click the agreement box to indicate that you will abide by the agreement
- Click the signature box to provide your digital signature
- Submit the form
After the form is submitted, please send a check for your garden to:
Payson Community Garden
214 E Airline Dr.
Payson, AZ 85541
The garden coordinator will email you with your garden assignment once payment is received.
Payson Community Garden Individual Garden Usage Contract
Mission: We are an inter-Faith Project made possible by the generous land use agreement of the Nazarene Church and its leadership. Our goal is to work together to create a happy, secure and enjoyable community garden where all participants can garden, enjoy their produce and socialize peacefully in a neighborly manner and to provide food for families in need of assistance in the Payson area. Additionally, we promote organic gardening in the community, self-reliance, teach gardening and food preservation skills and develop advanced method of gardening.
Organic Gardening: We view our gardens as part of a whole system which includes the water supply, people, wildlife and even insects. We do not use chemically based synthetic fertilizers, insecticides or pesticides. As organic gardeners we work with natural systems and continually build up our soil to provide healthy growing conditions for our plants. Please use only Organic, OMRI, or 100% natural (non-chemical, inorganic) approved products in your garden. Free manure, compost and wood chips may be available.
Gardening Staff: Experienced gardeners, who have learned the “quirks” of gardening in Payson since the garden opened ten years ago, are available to answer your questions, teach you how to recognize “diseased” plants, identify beneficial and non-beneficial insects, and how to eliminate or control them. The garden staff routinely walks through the garden looking for issues BEFORE they need removal or treatment of the plant. Feel free to stop and ask any staff member questions or concerns you may have.
WELCOME NEW AND RETURNING GARDENERS
We could not accomplish our mission without you!
Conditions of Participation:
The annual fees include water costs:
o $70.00: 6’x25′garden
o $35.00: 4’x8’ raised garden
o $25.00: 4’x4’ raised garden- Each gardener is expected to volunteer for a minimum of 5 hours to help maintain the garden.
- Each garden harvest will be used for my personal/family use, no commercial use is allowed.
o My garden will share a minimum of 20% of the harvest with the food banks
o Produce will be harvested in a timely manner
o To prevent over-ripe produce, I will enlist the help of a fellow gardener or the harvest team when I am unable to harvest - My garden will be well-kept and safe; including the walkways that surround my garden.
o Weeds will be removed in a timely manner including the walkways that surround my garden
o Plants will be trimmed to stay within the boundaries of the garden
o Gardens that are not maintained in a well-kept condition may be deemed “abandoned” - Supports, shade systems, hoop systems are allowed, however, please be sensitive to not shade your neighbors’ garden
- Trees, berry bushes, or any other unsuitable plant such as morning glories or hollyhocks are not allowed. (See garden guidelines)
- Companion plants and flowers that attract pollinating insects, are encouraged.
- The walkways are mulched using free woodchip by the gardener as needed and are kept clear of tripping hazards.
- No pets are allowed in the garden.
- Children will be supervised.
- This is a non-smoking garden.
- Garden plots remain the property of Payson Community Garden and are non-transferrable.
- The garden is not open on Sunday. Days and times the garden is open vary during the growing season and are posted.
- Free gardening classes are provided starting in February. Additional pop-up classes may be available throughout the season.
- My garden will be cleaned at the end of the season as per season closing guidelines.
- If health or other issues prevent you from completing your garden, please notify the garden staff as soon as possible to ensure your garden is properly transferred or fallowed for future use.
Water:
PCG will automatically water each garden at least three (3) times a week or more or less depending on the weather conditions.
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- Each gardener will supply a drip system with pressure compensating emitters and/or soaker system for their garden.
o The watering system specifications can be obtained at the garden, on the website & will be handed out at the water class.
Sprayers, sprinklers, bubblers, or adjustable drippers (shrubblers) are not approved for use in the garden. - Newly planted seeds or plants may be hand watered; however, hand watering is not suggested as a substitute for the automatic system.
- There are three types of watering lines in the garden:
o Farm faucets (burgundy): readily available for filling watering cans during the cold spring and winter seasons.
o Purple lines: Available for use with a hose for hand watering seedlings & transplants and may not be connected to automatic watering system in your garden. Purple lines are under very high pressure which will break drip/soaker systems.
o Yellow lines: Available in each garden to connect your watering system
Notifications:
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- Gardeners will be notified of the following conditions by a member of the garden staff:
o Broken watering systems
o Diseased and insect infested plants in need of treatment or removal
o Over-ripe produce in need of harvest - Notifications by phone
o Messages will be left whenever possible and will be assumed to be “received”; not having an answering device, an
answering device that is full, or wrong number is not the responsibility of the garden staff
o Please keep your information up to date - Notification by text
o Garden closures due to weather
o Important additional topics
My digital signature below indicates that I have read, understand, and will act in accordance with the following important concepts:
I will strive to have a successful garden in accordance with these guidelines. -
- I understand that the Nazarene Church is providing the land free of charge and agree to hold the Church, its members and leadership harmless for any and all liability arising from my use of the property.
- Compliance with the Conditions of Participation.
- Volunteering for a minimum of five(5) hours.
- Not interfering with another garden unless asked to do so by the gardener
- The garden staff will notify me when my garden needs attention; I have 24 hours to respond with a treatment plan. These issues include, but are not limited to:
o Treatment or removal of diseased and infested plants
o Overripe produce in need of harvesting
o Broken water lines
o Unkempt garden space - If I do not respond to the notification and rectify the issue, the garden staff will:
o Remove diseased and insect infested plants
o Harvest my produce for the next food bank delivery
o Leave the water off to my garden until I fix it
o Consider an unkempt garden abandoned - Grounds for termination of the Garden Usage Contract
o Documented non-compliance with the Conditions of Participation; such as: use of synthetic or
non-organic chemicals in my garden or having an abandoned garden - If I have complied with all the provisions of this agreement, as a gardener in good standing I will have first “right-of-refusal” to use my garden in the next growing season
- I understand that the owner of the property that I am using is the Church of the Nazarene International. I understand that neither the Payson Community Garden staff members nor the owners of the land are responsible for my actions. I agree to hold harmless the Community Garden staff and the Church of the Nazarene.