Key dates for kicking off the 2025 season
Saturday, March 8: Spring member meeting (recording available here)
Saturday, March 29: Water turned on for the spring
Sunday, March 30: Final day to pay dues or have plot reassigned to someone on the waitlist
Saturday April 5 and Sunday April 6: Spring cleanup and maintenance day
Thursday, May 1: Final day to work the plot or have it reassigned to someone on the waitlist
Thursday, May 15: Final day to cover paths with woodchips or have plot reassigned to someone on the waitlist
Information shared with gardeners before the 3/8/25 spring member meeting
Part 1: Confirmation of Garden plot for 2025 season
If you have not already confirmed your intent to remain in the garden for the 2025 season by phone with a member of the PCG Board this year, please email peabodygardenboard@googlegroups.com ASAP with
your full name,
plot number (if known),
whether or not you would like to keep your plot and actively garden this year,
your age (so we know how many PCG members are 70+ seniors), and
whether you would like your garden plot to be tilled with a machine.
We don’t yet know the price for tilling or how we’ll work it out. It will remain free for those 70+. *
Sharing this information with the Board will help us manage the waitlist, make a tilling plan, etc. Thanks to all of you who have already confirmed with us by phone. Thanks in advance to the rest of you for your prompt responses by email, please.
Part 2: Garden Fee and Tilling
The base Garden fee for this year remains $40 for all members. The price of eggs is up, but the price of a PCG plot isn’t.
All dues must be paid in full by March 30, 2025, in person at the Garden, by the gardener.
If you would like your plot tilled, there will be an additional fee unless you are 70+.
If you are a senior member, age 70+, your $40 membership fee includes tilling free.
We don’t have a plan yet for tilling. Last year Ken, our past Board Chair, rented equipment and tilled plots himself because the deal with a contractor fell through. The gentleman who tilled plots in previous years is no longer available.
If anyone has a suggestion for a reasonably-priced and reliable tilling contractor and/or would be willing to volunteer to help till plots, especially for seniors, please let us know.
The deadline for tilling confirmation is the same as the dues deadline, March 30, 2025. We will set a deadline for tilling payment once we confirm the tilling plan.
If we have not already confirmed with you, please email peabodygardenboard@googlegroups.com with your full name, plot number, and whether you’d like tilling or not.
Gardeners personally must bring a valid government issued photo ID and a secondary proof of current address in your name (e.g. utility bill, property or tax bill, insurance document, or rental/ownership papers).
No proxies are allowed for paying dues. In other words, the person the plot is assigned to is the person who goes to the garden to pay 2025 dues. This is because the Board has a responsibility to ensure that the plots remain under management of the person the plot is assigned to and are not transferred to someone else who did not apply for a plot. Thank you for your understanding.
Any plots not paid for by March 30 will be reassigned to the next person on the waiting list.
You may pay by check or money order (payable to “Peabody Community Garden”) or cash.
Please meet a member of the PCG Board at the garden near the bulletin board during one of the scheduled dues-collection days to verify your identity, sign the garden agreement, and pay your dues:
Sunday, March 9, 1:30 - 3pm (Nana)
Monday, March 10, 5:30-7pm (Phil)
Tuesday, March 11, 8-9am and 5:30-7pm (Phil)
Saturday, March 15, 1:30-3 pm (Nana)
Sunday, March 16, 1-3 pm (Sara)
Saturday, March 22, 1-3pm (Sara)
Sunday, March 23, 10am-12pm (Marcy and/or Carla)
Saturday, March 29, 1 - 3pm (Marcy and/or Carla)
Sunday, March 30, 10am - 12pm (Marcy and/or Carla)
Note: 3/30 is the FINAL day for dues collection
We will provide you with a receipt upon full payment of your dues.
Part 3: Garden Rules
To continue in the garden, gardeners must renew acceptance of and adherence to both National Park Service (NPS) guidelines, since PCG is on NPS property, and our own PCG by-laws. We do this when we pay our dues each year. Please review NPS guidelines and PCG by-laws before paying dues.
Gardeners who do not follow the rules cannot keep their plots.
Some rules we’d like to highlight:
No gardener can have more than one plot at PCG or another garden on NPS land.
No one crop can be planted to cover more than 40% of any one plot. This is a PCG maximum based on NPS guidelines advising us that monoculture is bad for the land.
Organic gardening only per NPS.
Prohibited: pesticides (bug poison), herbicides (plant poison), rodenticides (rat poison), inorganic (synthetic) fertilizers and soil amendments (like MiracleGro)
Each gardener is responsible for keeping paths adjacent to their plot clear of weeds (per NPS guidelines) and mulched (per PCG by-laws) for easy access to all plots.
Let’s get to know our plot neighbors and make a plan to share the work.
All plots must be planted or worked no later than May 1; after that date, the plot will be assumed to be abandoned and will be reassigned if there is anyone on a wait list.
Gardeners that break any rules will be given a warning and two weeks to come into compliance. The most common infractions are not mulching paths and not keeping plots free of weeds and debris. Per the bylaws, if after two weeks the rule-breaking hasn't stopped then the Board has to remove the gardener from the plot and reassign it to the next person on the waitlist.
Part 4: Helping at the Garden
In addition to tending our plots and mulching our paths, members of Peabody Community Garden work together to ensure the garden as a whole can grow and thrive.
We are on the lookout for a Garden Manager and/or Assistant Garden Manager who can identify and manage tasks related to garden upkeep – inflating wheelbarrow tires, replacing broken hoses, repairing tools, purchasing replacement parts, monitoring which plots are getting overgrown, etc. The Garden Manager and Assistant Garden Manager work closely with the Board and Members to recruit volunteers so the work doesn’t fall on one person’s shoulders.
If you are interested in learning more about either role, or if you can help with garden upkeep tasks on an as-need basis, please email us or contact the member of the board who called you.
There will be additional opportunities for helping at the Garden, including cleanup days, spring event planning, website help, etc. If you have any suggestions for garden or member-engagement projects, or if you have any skills you’d like to share, please let us know.
Warm regards,
-- Your 2025 Peabody Community Garden Board