Member Responsibilities
Attend our monthly meeting
We have one general membership meeting every month. We currently hold it on the 2nd Monday of the month from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. We discuss the problems we saw over the past month and what we can do to solve them. We vote on any major actions in the garden. We must vote when removing any garden property and warn the original owner before its removal. Only Full Members are able to vote; New Members can become Full Members after a year in good standing. We value input from New Members and encourage their active participation in our meetings. All members must try to attend all meetings; in order to stay in good standing, you need to have attended at least half and missed no more than four meetings in a row.
Volunteer
Everything that happens in our garden comes from the volunteer work of our members. Everything from planting to applying for grants to building decks is done in-house. That means there are many different ways to contribute. Members are expected to volunteer at least 2 hours a month during the garden season. Over a year, a member should have logged at least 15 hours of volunteer work. Opening the garden is tracked separately, so it doesn’t count as volunteer work. Volunteer work is anything others would find valuable that requires your active attention. Work must be logged on the form in the garden to get credit. To avoid estimating, try to write down the time when starting. If someone interested in becoming a member comes to the garden, show them how to log their hours. Some examples of volunteer work are the following:
- Sweeping (this is usually a good task for new members)
- Watering (avoid watering the leaves of a plant when it’s under direct sunlight)
- Picking up litter, cleaning, and organizing
- Refilling Rain Barrels (ask an experienced member the first time)
- Committee-related tasks (planting the garden, construction, repairs, office work)
- Planning
- Helping hold an event
If you’re unsure if something counts as volunteer work, send an email to team@11th.garden.
Keep the garden open
The community only gets to enjoy our space when there is a member present. People walking past the garden occasionally say, “I never see this place open.” While we don’t believe that to be the case, the only way to work on this is member participation. We currently post open hours on the gate that read: Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:30 pm to 8 pm, Sundays, Noon to 6 pm. We are required by the city to be open for 20 hours a week, post 10 hours, where at least 5 of those are on the weekend. That means in addition to our posted hours, we should be open an additional 8 hours. During the garden season, all members are required to schedule 2 hours during the month to be posted publicly (https://11th.garden/calendar). We certainly value those who open the garden during the week. This allows people in the neighborhood a predictable time when they can visit. This also allows time for Friends of the Garden (who don’t have keys) to volunteer their time. If the weather seems bad during your scheduled time, send an email to team@11th.garden to cancel. Over a year (starting in March), members are expected to have logged 25 hours where they kept the garden open to the public.
Whenever you open the garden, you are responsible for all garden property and the people in the garden. Use caution if intervening in any conflict that arises. Log your time on the clipboard labeled “Open Hours Reporting” whenever you arrive. Only one member can keep the garden open at a time. When two or more members are present, try to split time so that you get the same number of hours. If two people are there from 1 pm to 4 pm, Person A should get 1 pm to 2 pm, and Person B should get 2 pm to 4 pm. If you are opening during your scheduled time, you always get the hours you scheduled.
Try to greet all visitors and remind them of our donation box. If a visitor wants to connect to our free WiFi, you can give them a temporary code that lasts for 24 hours. They are usually hanging from a paperclip (shown in the image above). When giving them one of the vouchers, remind them we accept donations. When closing the garden, carefully follow the Closing the Garden guide which is also posted in the garden (shown above). Don’t forget to sign out when you leave. If any visitors are interested in staying up to date with our garden, point them toward our “Contact Request Form”.
Anyone who signs up on this form is added to our email newsletter written for the public. We aim to send only a single email a month. There is a QR code in the top right of the form. Scanning the code will bring them to an electronic version. If someone is interested in becoming a member, the application is on this electronic version. You can find it at https://11th.garden/contact.
Serve on a committee
At our garden, we have four committees that are responsible for a part of the maintenance.
- Operations and Maintenance - planting, appearance, and repairs
- Special Projects - new construction and initiatives
- Events - planning and holding community events
- Membership - recruiting new members and tracking internal contributions
As a member, you are expected to join one of the four committees (or serve on the executive body). You should join the committee you are most interested in, although that doesn’t exclude you from the work other committees are doing. For example, the Events committee might announce an event, but you’re not on that committee. We would still love to have you participate in the planning or help at the event. This goes for all of the committees. The committees are intended to spark action, not control action. Each committee might have its own meetings and requirements, which are determined by the committee head. Email team@11th.garden for more information on joining a committee if you haven’t already.