VNA Community Garden

Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden Information, Rules and Conditions

• Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden is an Organic Garden. All garden plots measure approximately 4′ x 8′.
• To get a plot assignment, contact Travis Gaddis at [email protected]
• Application Fees are $25 per garden plot – Please pay online once you have been assigned a plot. 
• Payment can be made online at valentineneighborhood.org.  Email [email protected] with any questions or concerns. 
• Please do not begin gardening until you receive your plot number(s).
• Gardeners will receive an email with their plot number(s) prior to opening.

Calendar

Join the Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden Committee!

The Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden Committee is a group of gardeners. They are the ones helping things get done. They attend meetings, respond to committee discussions and manage specific projects. The Committee helps to keep ‘Community’ in Midtown Kansas City. We get together to talk about how we can all make Midtown Kansas City even more awesome. Sometimes we eat food while talking. More information will be included in emails to the gardeners or feel free to reach out to [email protected].

Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden Rules and Conditions

SEASONAL PLOT ASSIGNMENT: Plots are assigned for a year at a time and no guarantees are made of continued use. Returning gardeners in good standing are given priority over new gardeners and can request each year to return to their previous plot. Returning and new gardeners are required to pay each year. Gardeners at least 18 years of age, who also reside in the Valentine Neighborhood (or are employees of Kansas City Life) can request garden plots. New gardeners will be assigned a single plot initially and if there are vacancies by May 15, those vacant plots can be requested by gardeners. Plot changes should be requested via email – [email protected]. Plot maintenance remains the responsibility of the gardener. There are no refunds of any kind unless there is no initial plot assignment made.

Plots must be kept free of garbage, glass, dyed wood chips, plastic, carpet, stones, storage containers, excessive non-gardening materials, plastic sheets, treated lumber and other debris.

All garden plots are to be tended using organic gardening methods only. Use of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides made from synthetic materials as well as use of chemical fertilizers like Miracle-Gro is strictly forbidden. Manure that is well composted or sterilized is allowed, along with organic soil amendments, leaf and hay mulch. Undesirable plant material should be discarded in paper refuse bags which will be collected curbside along Pennsylvania avenue on a routine basis (more information to be distributed via email at a later date).

Planting deadline is May 31st. If your plot is not tended or actively planted by the deadline, you will be contacted and asked if you plan to garden this season. If not, your plot will be reassigned so that another gardener can access the plot for a full season.

We have a “weed or lose your plot” policy. Plot monitoring is done regularly throughout the season. Gardeners have 10 days to correct the situation after they have been contacted. If you do not respond or have been contacted by the Plot Monitoring Team repeatedly in one season about a persistent problem, you may be asked to forfeit your plot(s) for the current year and will not receive your plot(s) the following year. If you are asked to forfeit your plot(s), you can submit an appeal to the Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden Committee by emailing [email protected].

GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY: Please show respect to fellow gardeners by not entering other plots without permission. Perennials that are difficult for successive gardeners to eradicate must not be grown (e.g., Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish, comfrey, mint, grapes, woody trees or shrubs, and raspberries, along with Wild Parsnip). Harassment, theft, criminal behavior or use of banned substances will be grounds for expulsion.

No selling. Your produce grown at Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden is for home use only and may not be sold.

No tobacco products allowed. The use of tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or chewing tobacco is prohibited at the Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden.

No alcoholic products are allowed.

No open flames allowed within garden plots, no barbecue pits/grills. No use of propane blow torches to suppress weeds. Tools shall be properly stored and not kept within your garden plot.

Gardeners are responsible for maintaining the path around their garden plot.  Paths must be passable and free from weeds, sticks, rocks, and wayward fencing material. No planting outside of plot boundaries.

Vehicles are not to be driven onto the property. Parking is allowed on the west side of Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Dogs are allowed only on a leash in the community garden area.  Pet waste must be taken home for disposal.

Children must be accompanied by their parents and must respect garden property. Do not let your children play with the water or go into neighboring plots.

END OF SEASON PLOT CLEAN UP: Garden beds must be cleared of all plant matter by the Closing Day, unless specifically requested. Crops may remain in place and gardening may continue year-round only if the gardener is in good standing and intends to return the following year and has contacted [email protected]. If not returning, gardeners are required to leave the plot in usable condition and remove all personal property. Any property still left in the plot by Opening Day will be donated to a local charity.

VALENTINE NEIGHBORHOOD RESERVES THE RIGHT: By requesting a plot and participating in the Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden, you are agreeing to follow these rules and conditions for gardening at Valentine Neighborhood Community Garden. Valentine Neighborhood oversees the Garden and reserves the right to change these rules and conditions at any time without prior notice. Failure to comply with these rules will result in notices to the gardener and possible confiscation of plot(s).

Direct all questions, concerns, confidential complaints and reporting of weedy plots to [email protected] Water leaks should be reported immediately.  Beware of shallow water lines near plot boundaries