Community Garden Failure Triage, Stabilization and Recovery Workbook

Purpose: Use this workbook when several garden systems are deteriorating at the same time. It helps a garden distinguish visible symptoms from root causes, choose whether to stabilize, shrink, reset, transfer, pause, or close, and document whether recovery actually works.

Governing principle: Reduce obligations until the garden can reliably keep the promises it has already made.

Safety boundary: This workbook is not a substitute for legal, accounting, insurance, environmental, food-safety, or professional safety advice. Stop affected activities when land authority, safety, water, soil, finances, or organizational authority are materially uncertain.

1. Garden identification and recovery authority

Garden		Date
Host / landowner		Primary contact
Recovery coordinator		Backup
Who has authority to approve recovery changes?

If decision authority is unclear, record that as a controlling governance question instead of assuming authority.

2. Immediate stop-condition check

Question	Yes / No / Unknown	Action / owner / deadline
Any unresolved soil, water, structural, electrical, tool, food-safety, heat, or access hazard?
Is current permission to use the land unclear, expired, disputed, or threatened?
Are money, account control, grant restrictions, debts, or material transactions unreconciled?
Is there no legitimate person or body able to make required operating decisions?
Is an insurer, school, municipality, host agency, funder, or regulator requiring an activity to stop?

If any answer is Yes or Unknown and the uncertainty is material: pause the affected activity, identify the competent authority, and do not use enthusiasm or volunteer labor to work around the stop.

3. What promises does the garden currently make?

List recurring obligations, not aspirations. Examples: water available, plots assigned, paths mowed, bills paid, tools secured, meetings held, donation harvest delivered, compost managed, school lessons supported.

Recurring promise / obligation	Frequency	Primary owner	Backup	Currently being met?

4. Seven-system triage

Rate each system independently: Healthy, Watch, Correct, or Stop. Do not average scores.

System	Status	Evidence observed	Next action
Safety and basic operability
Land and host relationship
Participation and plot stewardship
Leadership and governance
Maintenance and infrastructure
Money and obligations
Trust, purpose, and community fit

5. Bad season, bounded failure, or systemic failure?

Question	Finding
If the harvest were excellent tomorrow, which operating problems would still exist?
If every weed disappeared tonight, what would still fail next month?
Which failure is causing other failures downstream?
Which recurring obligation has no credible owner or resource?

6. Binding constraint

Choose the one constraint that most limits the garden's ability to keep recurring promises.

Candidate constraint	Evidence	Would fixing it materially improve several systems?

Selected binding constraint:

7. Choose the recovery disposition

Choice	Check	Why this fits / does not fit
Stabilize - temporary overload, sound basic model
Shrink - footprint or programs exceed reliable capacity
Reset - governance, rules, trust, records, or decision process are broken
Transfer - another steward or host is better positioned
Pause - temporary controlling barrier must be resolved first
Close - no credible safe, authorized, funded, and supported operating model

Decision:

Decision authority / meeting record:

8. Define the minimum viable garden

Core requirement	Current condition	Required before normal operations
Authorized site access and host contact
No unresolved material safety stop in open areas
Usable water plan
Current roster and active footprint
At least two people understand critical operations
Transparent money, keys, passwords, and records
Maintained entrance, paths, common areas, essential infrastructure
Visible member expectations and notice process
Recurring maintenance calendar with owners

9. What will be paused or retired?

Activity / area / program	Pause, retire, consolidate, or transfer?	Reason	How site / participants will be protected

10. Financial stabilization sheet

Item	Amount / status	Source record checked?	Owner / action
Verified cash / bank balance
Unpaid water / utility
Insurance
Rent / license / host fee
Outstanding reimbursements
Restricted grant / donor funds
Known repairs / replacement obligations
Other

Verified money actually available for ordinary recovery work: __________________________

Stop: If material balances, restrictions, debts, transactions, or account control cannot be reconciled, stop discretionary spending and involve the appropriate host, treasurer, board, accountant, attorney, grantor, or other qualified authority.

11. 30-day recovery task board

Every task needs an owner, deadline, required resource, definition of done, and proof.

Task	Owner + backup	Deadline	Resource needed	Definition of done	Proof

12. Volunteer role clarity

Recurring role	Specific task	Time burden	Training	Primary	Backup	How completion is checked

13. Recovery communication record

Audience	What they need to know	Sender	Date sent	Questions / corrections received
Gardeners
Host / landowner
Partners / funders
Neighbors / public, if applicable

14. Weekly proof log

Week	Essential work completed on schedule?	What required emergency rescue?	Backlog up / same / down?	New stop condition?	Decision
1
2
3
4

15. End-of-proof-period decision

Question	Evidence
Are all material stop conditions resolved or formally paused?
Does the active footprint match actual participation?
Are recurring maintenance tasks happening without rescue?
Are money and obligations reconciled?
Do critical roles have owners and backups?
Is the host relationship workable?
Is backlog decreasing rather than regenerating?
Is the garden less dependent on one person?

Final disposition: Continue stabilized operation / Shrink again / Reset / Transfer / Pause / Close

Next review date: _____________________

16. Responsible closure checklist

Use only if closure is the selected, authorized disposition.

Closure obligation	Owner	Deadline	Complete / evidence
Decision authority confirmed and minutes/record retained
Landowner/host notified
Gardeners notified; final access/harvest date established
Money, bills, deposits, grants, donor restrictions reconciled
Tools, keys, equipment, signs, and donated property inventoried/dispositioned
Site restoration, waste, beds, structures, utilities addressed as required
Records transferred to responsible host/organization
Lessons learned and future restart conditions recorded

Formal obligations: A nonprofit corporation, charity, school, municipal program, HOA, grant-funded project, employer, or leased site may have legal, financial, insurance, labor, property, or asset-disposition requirements beyond this checklist. Verify them with the responsible authority.

17. Lessons learned

What failed first?
What evidence did we ignore or notice too late?
Which obligation should never again depend on one person?
What should be smaller, simpler, or documented differently?
What would trigger earlier intervention next time?

New World Survival | Community Garden Failure Triage, Stabilization and Recovery Workbook | Revision 2026-09-06. Companion guide: What to Do When the Community Garden Is Failing. Principal evidence classes: Cooperative Extension community-garden management, volunteer-management guidance, and community-leadership research. Verify local land, insurance, legal, financial, safety, and host requirements.