Gardening Guidelines

Please review these guidelines prior to volunteering with us to gain an understanding of what we do.

Our gardens at Biddeford Community Gardens operate as shared garden spaces. We encourage the public to become involved as team members, where we share in the work and share in the harvest.

Garden Tasks

Spring Cleanup Days: These include raking up winter debris and prepping the raised beds and inground spaces with compost and fresh soil.
Gardening Days: Each garden has twice-weekly gardening days, during which team members support each other in planting, weeding, watering, and maintaining the gardens throughout the season.
Planting & Seeding the Gardens: Planting days will be posted on our website and on individual garden flyers.
Weeding: Requires regular removal of weeds from raised gardens and inground gardens.
Watering: Raised beds need watering more frequently than inground gardens. Best policy is to check the soil – if the soil is dry one inch down, water thoroughly. Please use water from our rainwater containers first – it’s healthier for the plants!
Staking & Trellising Vining Vegetables: Throughout the season, certain plants will require help to grow vertically. Our experienced team members will demonstrate how to do this during our gardening days.
Amending the Soil: This is done with compost and mulch throughout the growing season.
Harvesting: We only pick vegetables when they are ripe. In the height of the season, we will have weekly harvests where team members can share the fresh produce. Pick only what you need on these days. If there is an overabundance, we donate to Youth Full Maine, Biddeford Food Pantry or Bon Appetit Meal Program.
Garden Pests: Biddeford Community Gardens uses organic practices. The application of pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides in any Biddeford Community Gardens garden is strictly prohibited. If you notice a pest problem developing, please do what you can and notify your team leader. If you need help identifying and/or managing a pest problem, your team leader will be happy to help.
End of Season Cleanup: Everyone helps in putting the gardens to bed. This includes raking in and around raised beds and inground gardens, cleaning and storing garden tools, cleaning bird baths and storing them for the winter, planting garlic, planting cover crops, and amending the soil.

Garden Guidelines

Garden Team: Garden teams will be established each spring by consensus. Garden team leaders and members are responsible for ensuring our Gardening Guidelines are adhered to at all times.
Children: Children are welcome in the gardens, but must be accompanied by an adult and supervised at all times.
Pets: Pets are not allowed within the confines of the gardens. Service dogs of visually-impaired team members and visitors are welcome.
Vandalism and Theft: We ask that our team members report any vandalism, theft, and other destructive or harmful behaviors to your team leader. This will ensure that our community gardens remain safe and friendly spaces for all.
Photo Release: From time to time, the media, municipal organizations or officials, or fellow team members will take photos and videos of our gardens for use in communications and in grant applications.** By applying to volunteer with us, you grant permission to Biddeford Community Gardens to use your likeness in any digital media format (e.g., photo, video, website, and other web-related publications) without payment.
**Additional photo release: Our gardens are fully-approved York County Master Gardener Volunteer projects. If you are okay with having your photo taken and used for University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s MGV Program purposes, we will need to have you sign their required photo release. Thank you!