Purpose
The Ryan Street Community Garden provides Hancock residents the opportunity to grow healthy, affordable, fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs for their households. It also serves as a place for social interaction and creates a beautiful and educational landmark in the community demonstrating ecologically-sound and climate appropriate practices.
Group Values & Operating Principles
We encourage people to take responsibility for the care of their environment, community, and personal health. We work together as equals with openness, honesty, and compassion. We use Permaculture Design principles to guide the development and management of the garden.
Governance
The Garden Coordination committee is responsible for overseeing all organizational and operational activities at the Ryan Street Community Community Garden. Committee members agree to work on a volunteer basis in a democratic and equitable manner.
Membership
New members are accepted to the Ryan Street Community Garden based on plot availability. If all plots are occupied your name will be added to a waiting list in order of application. Hancock residents have priority over non-Hancock residents when accepting new members from the list. Current members that apply for a year’s leave of absence will be placed at the top of the waiting list for the following year.
Membership at the Ryan Street Community Garden is indefinite as long as you abide by the rules, terms, and conditions for participation stated in the Community Gardener Agreement.
Plots
There are 15 individual plots available to rent at the garden. The plots are located in approximately 16-inch tall raised beds that are retained by 8-inch wide concrete block walls. The interior dimension (soil area) of the plot measures approximately 4.25-feet wide and range in length from 8-feet to 14-feet long. A gardener may rent up to three plots per year. The annual plot fee for a single plot is $1.50/linear foot per season, $2/linear foot per season for additional plots, plus 8 volunteer hours per household per season.
