Where to start
Who this part is for, and what to read first.
Most of these problems are predictable, and a garden that has decided in advance what it will do handles them with less loss.
Start with Garden Resilience. It is the continuity plan: what stays running, what pauses, and who decides. The four hazard guides, on drought, extreme heat, flooding and water outages, hold the detailed procedures for an active event. The last four cover troubles that are about people and land more than weather. Read the one that matches what is in front of you.
A sensible first three
- Garden Resilience: Heat, Drought, Flooding and Extended AbsenceWrite the continuity plan first.
- Extreme Heat and Volunteer Safety in Community GardensSet the heat rules before summer workdays.
- What to Do When the Community Garden Is FailingIf the garden is struggling now, start here.
The guides
Resilience and Failure: 9 guides.
Garden Resilience: Heat, Drought, Flooding and Extended Absence
Keep a community garden safely functional through heat, drought, irrigation failure, flooding and extended absence with practical continuity and recovery plans.
Read the guide
Community Garden Drought Plan
Build a community garden drought plan with local triggers, water priorities, crop triage, conservation steps, stop conditions and recovery procedures.
Read the guide
Extreme Heat and Volunteer Safety in Community Gardens
Plan garden workdays for extreme heat: decide in advance, change the work, provide water, rest and shade, recognize heat illness and know when to cancel.
Read the guide
Flooding, Runoff and Contaminated Soil After a Flood
What to do after floodwater reaches a community garden: close the site, document the event, decide what happens to crops, test soil and reopen with evidence.
Read the guide
Water Outages and Irrigation Failure in Community Gardens
An eight-stage response for a community garden that loses water: confirm the failure, protect the system, triage crops, check backup sources and recommission.
Read the guide
Vandalism, Theft and Garden Security Without Fortress Thinking
A calm approach to community garden vandalism and theft: name the problem, respond to incidents, weigh fences, lighting and cameras, and keep people safe.
Read the guide
What to Do When the Community Garden Is Failing
A recovery system for a struggling community garden: stabilize the first 48 hours, find the binding constraint, shrink obligations and run a 30-day sprint.
Read the guide
What to Do When You May Lose the Land
When a community garden may lose its site: confirm who controls the land, separate rumor from risk, negotiate and plan relocation at once, and inventory assets.
Read the guide
Garden Leadership Failure and Recovery
Recover a community garden after a leadership break: cover essential functions, build a temporary bridge, reconcile money and records, and rebuild in stages.
Read the guide
The rest of the library
The other eight parts.
Part 1 of 9
Start Here
Choose the right responsibility before choosing the next article.
Part 2 of 9
Find and Join
Locate a garden, judge fit, understand obligations and enter intelligently.
Part 3 of 9
Master Your Plot
Build the growing skills that transfer directly to a community plot.
Part 4 of 9
Start a Garden
Build land, access, infrastructure and operating systems before opening day.
Part 5 of 9
Run the Garden
Maintain governance, volunteers, continuity and annual operating discipline.
Part 6 of 9
School and Institutional Gardens
Adapt the system to the host institution and the people it serves.
Part 7 of 9
Community Capacity
Build recurring systems that help gardeners teach, share and maintain useful resources.
Part 9 of 9
Use and Preserve the Harvest
Choose a preservation route that matches the food, evidence and safety controls.