Dear Gardeners,

It is time to start the registration process for 2025 gardening at the Morgan Hill Community Garden. The gardening year starts on February 1, 2025.

Thanks to all who have been working at the garden in the common areas recently and to the many gardeners who have cleaned out their plots and prepared the soil and plots for winter. The garden looks much better maintained this year than last year. It is greatly appreciated!

Here are some notes for next year’s gardening:

1. Our main method of communicating with gardeners is by email. Please make sure the garden email address is in your safe senders list and that you check it regularly (perhaps weekly) for garden information. Some info will be for all gardeners, and some may be when we need to reach you directly.
2. FEES: The gardening fee for 2025 gardening will be $125 per plot to make sure that our income matches our expenditures, which is the same fee as last year. You are receiving the 2025 Garden Bylaws and the 2025 Garden Policies documents to read thoroughly and acknowledge that you have read them on the registration form. There have been some changes since 2024, so please read the documents thoroughly. We all need to reread the documents to be reminded of the policies on a yearly basis. Mail in your registration items as soon as you can so the Treasurer can start the registration work. The items need to arrive at the post office in time for the deadline, which is January 31, 2025. We are accepting Zelle payments if that is of interest to you, but the registration form still needs to be printed and mailed to the post office box so our volunteer treasurer doesn’t have to do the printing for everyone!
3. WORK HOURS PARTICIPATION: Six hours of whole-garden work are required each year and can be completed on fun and social scheduled work days and/or with work that is arranged with the work day coordinator and done independently. As usual, the work day hours need to be completed by the last scheduled work day of the year, which is usually in September in order to register for the next gardening year. Please start working on your work hours early in the year when the need is greatest for removing weeds when the soil is still moist. Small grasses and weeds are already popping up in our gravel pathways. You can get started very early in 2025 as you note areas that need attention. Just email the garden to arrange the work with the work day coordinator, and then you will be abe to email the garden back with the work you did and the time you put into it. Remember the weedy mess we had last year?! We need to start much earlier this in 2025 to keep it under control. 🙂
4. REGISTRATION FORM: On the helper page of the registration form, make sure to include all people who might garden with you or water for you when you are on vacation. (Don’t forget to meet your gardening neighbor and to exchange contact information. You can also help each other out!) Anyone who is given code information and works in our garden has to be on the form for insurance purposes. Giving code information to anyone not authorized to be at the garden in ground for eviction from the garden.
5. DATE DUE: Registration is due at the post office by January 31, 2025. Late registrations are not accepted. Any wait list people can be placed in plots that are not registered if needed. Please note that mail dropped off at the post office might actually go to San Jose and then come back to Morgan Hill, so be sure to drop off your completely filled out registration packet a few days in advance of the deadline.
6. YEAR-ROUND GARDENING AND MAINTENANCE: Please remember that year-round gardening is required at the Morgan Hill Community Garden. Be sure to go to the garden regularly, even in the winter, to make sure your plot is well-maintained with old plants removed and that you have fall/winter plants in and/or cover crop or a mulch or straw cover over the soil. Pathways around your plot are to be clear and weeded with added cardboard and mulch as needed. All personal items need to be stored inside your plot or taken home for storage and not left outside of wooden plot boundaries. There is an area on the east side of the garden for items like tomato cages, but be sure to put them on cardboard so weeds don’t grow up into them, and keep them out of view of the garden plots to keep our garden looking tidy.

We look forward to receiving your registration items soon. Please notify us immediately if you do not intend to continue gardening at the Morgan Hill Community Garden and we will know if we have more plots for wait list people..

Thank you,
MHCG