Sherwood Garden

Purpose

The garden committee was first established February 24th, 2015 by a group of like-minded volunteers with the intention of planning and organizing the construction, operation and maintenance of a community garden. These dedicated and enthusiastic individuals set forth to gather community support and build a cohesive vision for a garden space. The area allows potential gardeners to come together in an inclusive space where they might not otherwise have the opportunity to connect with the soil. The group’s mission is to create and maintain connections with people, community, art & the soil.

The group will:

• Seek opportunities for improvement that support this mission, as well as the cohesive community vision for the space.

• Follow guidelines put forth by the City of Edmonton for Community Gardens.

• Evaluate the successes and struggles of the Sherwood Garden from year to year and make recommendations to support the ongoing success of this community space. 

Membership

Ideally the committee will consist of 6 to 12 members. Any willing volunteer is able to join the planning/ organizational structure given they have the time and commitment to do so. Membership with the planning committee is not required and may fluctuate from month to month.  

Representatives from other organizations will be included in monthly meetings and as used as resources for the garden’s organization and construction. A list of current community connections associated with our garden project includes:

• Community Rec Coordinator for Government of Alberta

• Sherwood Park/ Jasper Place Community league

• Community Growing Facilitator with Sustainable Food Edmonton

• Representatives from the West Edmonton Food Hub Alliance

• Representatives from the Master Composter Recycler Program with The City of Edmonton

Roles- Currently on a revolving schedule. Volunteers offer to take on a specific role for the next meeting.

1. Chair- Guides meetings, sets the agenda with input from the other committee members, keeps time and pace for meeting, acts as one of the signing authority officers

2. Secretary (Communications Chair)- Records minutes of meetings, send out information to all committee members, acts as one of the signing authority officers

3. Treasurer (Finance Chair)- maintains financial records, works with committee in applying for grants, acts as one of the signing authority officers

4. Subgroups (Still to be determined):

   1. Finance: oversee the financial interests of the garden including developing and managing the budget, assessing fees and applying for grants

   2. Communications: Prepare information packages and disperse them to members and the community; run and update social media sites and websites to keep public and members informed. 

   3. Site and Design: Review site conditions and recommend improvements of site design annually; propose plan for ongoing development, improvement and use of the site.

   4. Resources: assist in determining what the garden needs to operate, and pursue accessing those resources, e.g. tools, shed, compost, water

   5. Education: offer educational sessions to gardeners, e.g. recognizing weeds; work with schools to continue involvement in our garden through summer student gardening initiatives and various projects

   6. Watch: Plan and organize a method for keeping presence of gardeners at the site as often as possible, to determine new ways to minimize vandalism and to deter theft; assemble teams to repair vandalism if necessary

   7. Plot allocation: assign garden members to plots or spaces and to ensure their plots are being taken care of; report any abused or neglected plots.

Review

The group will meet for monthly meetings up until the construction of the site. After the construction of the garden, the committee will meet up for 3-4 meetings per year to review the relevance and value of its work and the terms of reference. The group will suggest recommendations to support the success and growth of the community space in the coming years.

Sharing of information and resources (including confidential materials) 

Monthly meeting agendas and minutes are shared via email to all willing volunteers. If you do not wish to have your email shared with the group an alternate form of communication will be set up. Group members can share information by email to sherwoodcommunitygarden@gmail.com or preferably at the group meetings.

Confidential materials and copyright issues will be handled by the Communications Chair or the Community recreation coordinator, and will be shredded if no longer needed.

• A web page for the group will be made through Sustainable Food Edmonton after its construction. A Facebook page currently exists for the garden group: https://www.facebook.com/WestJasperSherwoodCommunityGarden?fref=ts . It is currently managed and run by a few of the planning committee volunteers. It can be accessed by the public.  A temporary website has also been set up at http://sunniwhitney.wix.com/sherwoodgarden