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Volunteer Information

Dear Garden Volunteer,
 
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with us!
 
We look forward to working with you in our beautiful Ridgeville Park District gardens. We will be cultivating vegetables, herbs and fruit to take home and for donation, nurturing our pollinator gardens and beatifying our south Evanston parks.
 
Volunteer hours this spring are:
  • March 18 through May 31, 2024
  • Mondays 1:00-2:30pm
  • Fridays 1:00-2:30pm
Big Work Saturdays
  • March 16 1:00 – 3:00 Elks Community Garden (rain date March 17)
  • April 20 and 21 Earth Day Celebrations! Details on our website soon (rain date April 27 and 28)
  • May 11 1:00 – 3:00pm Elks Community Garden
  • June 15 8:00 – 10:00am Elks Community Garden
  • July 20 8:00 – 10:00am Elks Community Garden
  • August 24 8:00 – 10:00am Elks Community Garden
 
Volunteer Tasks
  • Weeding
  • Spreading wood chips on pathways in the community garden and pollinator plots
  • Planting seeds, growing seedlings and planting seedlings or mature plants
  • Watering
  • Harvesting
  • General spring clean up (ie trash, perinneal preparation for new growth, pruning)
  • Composting
  • Caring for our worm garden
  • Preparing the garden for Youth Grow Team to tend from June through August
Big Work Saturdays Tasks
 
Big work Saturdays are days where we need a large number of people for big tasks. Please invite your friends, RSVP and complete liability forms prior to coming over.
 
Our March Big Work Saturday (March 16) will be the kick off of the volunteer season and the time that we prepare the Elks Community Garden in Elks Park for the season. Tasks include laying cardboard and spreading wood chips on garden pathways and pollinator plots, re-assembling our grow station, organizing our tools, gathering trash and other items from the garden.
 
April Big Work Saturday will be integrated with Ridgeville Park District’s Earth Day Celebrations. Events will be held April 20 and 21 throughout the day at all 7 park locations
 
May’s Big Work Saturday (May 11) will involve continued maintenance on the Elks Community Garden, preparing soil (as needed) and seed and seedling planting!
 
June, July and August Big Work Saturdays will include harvesting and continued maintenance at Elks Community Garden.
 
Additional Big Work days may be included for other big work projects
 
Caretakers Needed
 
We have a few new spots planned for this year that need caretakers! If you want to volunteer but our garden hours don’t work for you, please consider taking on a caretaker role on your own schedule. We’re planning microgardens in Reba Park, Kamen East and the Tot Lot east of Kamen that I’m calling the Children’s Garden. We also need landscape/pollinator specific caretakers for Brummel Park, the Community House, and Kamen. All training and supplies will be provided. The time commitment is 10-20 minutes per visit with one to four visits per week.
 
Garden Programs and Education Coordinator
 
Laura Downey (ridgevilleparkdistrictgardens@gmail.com) will be hosting volunteer hours this season.
 
All communications about garden updates, weekly plans and cancellations will be sent via email through our MailChimp account with the email provided. Cancellations due to weather or illness will be by 7:00am on morning days and by 12:00pm on afternoon days, likely much earlier.
 
Elks Garden Location
 
We'll be growing primarily at our beautiful Elks Park Community Garden:
Navigate to the corner of Callan & Hull Terrace (in south Evanston, 60202). The garden is in the far Northeast corner of Elks Park: just east of the playground, & next to the alley. (Note that google maps may point you to the wrong part of the park or even an entirely different park. There is no address for this location.)
 
Street parking is free (but read signs).
 
On days when we are at a park other than Elks, Laura will email you with the park location in the weekly update that will be sent every Sunday (usually evening).
 
If you don't receive an email update, we're at Elks.
 
Weather
 
If the weather is unsafe, Laura will email to cancel at least 1 hour before the volunteer hours are scheduled to start.
 
If you don't hear from us by 1 hour before hours start, come on out! 
 
We will work in rain and heat but not thunder and lightening.
 
A few reminders for when you do come:
  • Bring a full water bottle.
  • Bring garden gloves if you need them. We have a few pairs to share but sometimes we are grateful to have more volunteers than gloves
  • Note that the bathroom closest to Elks is at Ridgeville Community House, a 3 minute drive from Elks. There is no bathroom on site!
  • Wear closed toe shoes.
  • Wear clothes that can get dirty.
  • Bring any extra clothing you may need to adjust to changing temperatures or light rain. 
If you have any of the following & would like to donate to our program, we'd love to have it!
  • Fruit/veggie seeds (ideally packaged for 2022 or later but we can test older packs)
  • All types welcome. But we especially need: bok choy, mixed greens, collards, carrots, kale, fennel, arugula, nasturtium, green beans, sugar snap peas, tomatoes & pepper
  • Fruit or vegetable seedlings or mature plants
  • Bamboo stakes
  • Ferns, vining plants, hostas (or other shade or semi-shade loving plants) we can dig up/transplant
  • Organic/natural potting soil
  • Finished compost
  • Plant stakes
  • Tomato trellising/cages taller than 3 ft.
  • Pitch forks and/or a broad fork (our sturdiest broad fork broke last year so this is a big wish)
  • Clean plastic or paper grocery bags folded or tied
  • Clean plastic produce containers (like berry or tomato containers) or plastic dairy containers with lids (like cottage cheese containers)
  • Raised beds/planters and/or large sturdy (1.5' diameter or greater) planting pots, grow bags or containers that can be used for planting
  • Paving stones or bricks.
Please complete this online liability form before your first volunteer day, or pick up a hard copy in the office at 908 Seward St. 
 
We will also have copies for you to fill out in the garden but appreciate it if you're able to come with a signed form.
 
Share with your friends!
 
And please do share this opportunity with any friends, family, or colleagues who you think might enjoy volunteering with you. 
 
It takes a great team to get the gardens awake in the spring so everyone is welcome whenever they can hop in
 
We look forward to growing good food, nurturing beautiful plants & serving our community with you!  See you in the garden!
 
Contact Urban Agriculture Supervisor, Laura Downey, with questions at gardens@ridgeville.org.


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