Support Services for Affiliate Gardens
Affiliation is free and simple – see below to
find out how to affiliate
Part of Urban Harvest's mission is to support gardens in greater Houston that help improve their community. These gardens serve many purposes, such as fostering friendships and building community spirit. Urban Harvest supports these gardens in the following ways:
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1. How to Start Class |
8. Gardening Library |
1. How to Start Class
If you are thinking about starting a school garden, donation garden, neighborhood
or other type of community garden, the best way to get all the initial information
you need is to take our free monthly How to Start a Community Garden class.
This class covers site design and materials as well as an overview of the funds
and volunteers you will need.
2. Free Gardening Classes
As a community gardener, you are invited to take many of our classes for
free. Free classes are noted in our Classes and Events list online, and
include the fall Gardening Basics series and our winter series on growing
fruit trees and plants. For other series, such as the vegetable specialist
or permaculture series, a few students are eligible for reduced cost admission.
If you do choose to pay for your class, we thank you for your support of
Urban Harvest and community gardening.
3. Semi-Annual Community Gardener Meetings
At events we host several times a year, community gardeners from all over
greater Houston gather to trade ideas and share success stories. These
meetings are often held at a garden - in the past we have visited schools,
donation gardens, and neighborhood gardens. A presentation on a seasonal
gardening topic by a local expert is often part of the meeting, and sometimes
free seedlings or gardening accessories are given away.
4. Harvest Celebration
Thank the hardworking volunteers in your garden with an award at the annual
Harvest Celebration. On a Saturday in late fall, gardeners from all around
the greater Houston area gather to enjoy a potluck lunch and awards celebration.
Our Gardens committee coordinates the awards, creating personalized certificates
for your volunteers for five, ten, and fifteen years of service. Special
awards are also given to honor the exceptional efforts of a few gardens
each year.
5. Garden Signs
An attractive sign with your garden's name on it can aid in recruiting volunteers
and raising funds. When the garden's neighbors know what they have, they
ask questions and get involved. Urban Harvest provides these handsome aluminum
signs in two sizes and sells them to you below cost. Visit the signs
page to learn more.
6. Volunteer Referrals
Urban Harvest often receives calls from potential volunteers interested in
finding a garden in their part of town to help out in. If your garden would
like us to refer you volunteers, please give our Volunteer Coordinator
a call with the days and times your gardening group meets.
7. Webpage of Your Garden
We can create a personalized webpage for your garden in our web Directory
of Gardens. This is a terrific way to create visibility for your garden,
recruit additional volunteers and donations, and thank those who have contributed
funds to your garden. To have a page created, submit your story and a photo
or two. For ideas, visit the web Directory and have a look at others’ pages.
8. Gardening Reference Library
Our Garden Library is home to more than 600 books on a variety of gardening
topics. Community and school gardeners and our members may come and read and find the answers to gardening questions in our books. The library is open during our business hours.
9. Books for Sale
Urban Harvest sells some of the most essential gardening books for growing
vegetables and fruits in the greater Houston area. Dr. Randall's Year-Round
Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for Metro Houston is the result of decades
of research. Visit our office or the Seeds, Books and More section of our
website to see what we have for sale.
10. Corner at the Bayou City Farmers Market
The Gardeners' Corner is a spot at our market for community gardeners to
sell their extra harvest. If you have a bumper crop and want to make a
few extra dollars to support your garden, this table is for you. Visit
the farmers market section of our site to learn more.
11. Media Referrals
We sometimes get calls from the Chronicle and other local, state, and national
media looking to do a story on a garden. We have made suggestions and connections
that have led to a number of noteworthy articles. These articles in turn
help gardens to receive new volunteers and donations. Keep us up to date
on what’s happening in your garden so that we may do the same for
you.
12. Troubleshooting Advice
We are available via phone, e-mail and in office consultation to answer questions
regarding horticultural and other challenges you may be having with your
community or school garden. If you have a question and were unable to find
the answer on our website or in Dr. Randall’s book Year Round Vegetables,
Fruits and Flowers for Metro Houston, you are welcome to e-mail our staff
at info@urbanharvest.org.
How to Become an Affiliate Garden
Affiliation is free and simple. As it is a part of our mission to support gardens that serve the community, we provide the above services at no cost to these gardens. To become an affiliate:
1. Provide us with up-to-date information for our database, including garden
location, start date, purpose of garden, primary contact and garden volunteers.
a. We mail invitations to all the gardeners in our database of upcoming meetings,
presentations and the Harvest Celebration;
b. We maintain an e-mail list in order to send gardeners notices about upcoming
events or availability of donated gardening supplies.
c. We call the primary contact at your garden when we have new volunteer(s)
for your garden. Occasionally we have groups of volunteers who are looking
for a day of service in a garden.
2. If you want volunteers, provide us with basic information about your garden
including:
a. Days and hours of regular volunteer workdays, if they are regular
b. If you are organic or use chemical pesticides/fungicides in the garden – we
invite all gardens to become affiliates, but many new volunteers are specifically
looking to work in organic gardens
3. Consider purchasing an Affiliate sign for your garden – this
is not required, but if you do have a sign with the name of your garden,
it is an excellent resource. For the surrounding community to be aware that
they have your garden in their midst, it helps greatly if there is one or
more neat, informative signs. Besides identifying you to the community, they
can aid in recruiting volunteers and raising funds. When the garden's neighbors
know what they have, they ask questions and get involved.
Become a Member Garden and Gain Additional Benefits
Membership entitles you to additional benefits over that of affiliation.
For $40 per year, two gardeners with your garden will receive subscriptions
to our quarterly Guide newsletter as well as discounts with our business
partners.
• The Guide includes articles with gardening advice and updates from
other community and school gardens, as well as a seasonal planting guide
and Urban Harvest class and event information.
• Business discounts include 10 to 20 percent off of plants, organic
fertilizers, soil, tools, and other gardening supplies at more than fifteen
local businesses. A complete up-to-date listing of our partners is available
online and in our Benefits of Membership brochure.
