Q Gardens is managed communally. We share in the garden responsibilities and in the fruits of our collective labor!

The  best way to get involved is to just start coming to the garden during open hours, asking questions, and jumping right in. Another great way is to come to one of our (currently virtual) monthly garden meetings. All upcoming events are listed on our calendar.

The current Q Gardens teams are described below. Feel free to sign up for any or all of them!

Growers team: Members work collectively to plant, water, and otherwise care for the plants at Q Gardens. We have a growing assortment of culinary and medicinal herbs, native plants, berry bushes, and more. We are always open to new ideas – if you want to grow it and there’s room – let’s do it! To volunteer with the growers team, please fill out this brief form.

Composting team: Saves tons –literally!– of food scraps from landfill each year and makes a lot of compost ;). Members sign up for 2-hour composting shifts on weekends (as many or few as they like). Folks can also take on tasks during the week such as turning, mixing browns, sifting, and helping to manage the sidewalk bin collection. Newbie and experienced composters welcome! Learn more at the composting page. To volunteer with the composting team, please fill out this brief form.

Bee team: Q Gardens launched a community beekeeping project on a nearby rooftop in 2017 (see our bee blog). Twelve bee apprentices participated in year one, learning to keep bees through informal classes and the hands-on maintenance of our hives. The bee team has evolved from there and we have plans to steward at least two hives in 2021! To volunteer with the bee team, please fill out this brief form.

Community engagement group: Members meet about every six weeks to discuss the garden’s role as a community resource in our neighborhood. Creating synergy with other community-based groups is a key part of the work. The group has its roots in our 2019 community board project. After the June 2020 uprisings for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, we reconstitued the community board project as a full-fledged QG group.  If you have ideas for community engagement projects large or small, let’s talk! To volunteer with the community engagement group, please fill out this brief form.

General garden coordinating team: Currently made up of two members (Anne and Natalia), this team works together on day-to-day planning and coordination of Q Gardens, growing our partnerships, and troubleshooting issues that come up. To join this team, a person must have been actively involved in the garden for at least six months and must have attended at least three Q Gardens meetings.

Not ready to join a team yet, but want to be kept in the loop of general garden goings-on? You can ask to join our general garden listserv by emailing q-gardens-coordinators@googlegroups.com