Introduction
The Lower Nehalem Community Trust (LNCT) Community Garden is located at Alder Creek Farm and Natural Area in Nehalem. The garden is tended by volunteers and team leaders with direction from the LNCT Garden Coordinator. Ours is a communal garden, cultivated by the whole group rather than operating as individual plots. Participation in the community garden program is a rewarding experience enriched with garden training and education, social connection, weekly harvest sharing, and growing for the community through produce and plant donations shared with local food scarcity partners.
The garden comprises a little over an acre that includes a greenhouse, vegetable garden, permaculture garden, fruiting shrubs and berries, a 40-tree fruit orchard, and more. It is embedded within the Alder Creek Farm wildlife sanctuary and borders a native plant teaching trail.
Our season runs from late February through October with “work parties” on Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9am-noon, rain or shine. We also hold monthly work parties during the off-season, and new this year, will hold monthly “open garden days” to invite more public participation.
The garden program is open to interested community members on a space available basis. Priority is given to returning gardeners, much like a traditional community garden program, but we welcome new and seasoned gardeners alike. No prior garden experience is necessary.
Mission/Vision
A community of stewards uniting to nourish our community with reciprocity, gratitude and best practices for ecological growing in our coastal climate.
Goals
- Increase our community’s capacity to grow healthy local food
- Increase access to healthy local food through harvest and plant sharing with our community food partners such as the North County Food Bank, Nehalem Bay Community Services, Nehalem Bay Health Center outreach programs, local schools, and others
- Share harvest amongst our community of growers
- Learn and share together, and nurture relationships between our community and the land
Values
- Gratitude – for the Earth, for the harvest, and for each other
- Reciprocity – honoring the Earth’s generosity in how we care for the land
- The Honorable Harvest
- Responsibility – to the garden, to the community and to each other
- Stewardship – to maintain or improve the soil to produce food for generations to come and use regenerative methods including low-till or no-till soil management, on-site composting, and other techniques aimed at maintaining biodiversity
- Community – coming together to share the joy of gardening, learning, and supporting our community!
Garden Fee & Volunteer Time Commitment
Fee
Community Gardeners contribute an annual program fee which contributes to a portion of garden operating costs including seeds and plants, tools, and supplies.
Our 2025 Garden Program fee is $65 per person (for the season). We seek to make our program as accessible as possible while maintaining the financial viability of the program. If this fee represents a burden to you or your family, or is a potential barrier to your participation, please reach out to our Garden Coordinator, Janice Soots at gardencoordinator@nehalemtrust.org as partial and full scholarships are available. Fees are due by orientation and are non-refundable. We think you will find that the value of the produce you’ll take home during the season will far exceed your fee!
Garden Season
Our Garden Program days are Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9am to noon, beginning February 25th through Saturday, October 25th. These hours are structured to align both with our food scarcity partners’ food distributions and meals programs, and to enable participation for individuals and families who work during the week.
The season kicks off with orientation days on Tuesday February 25th and Saturday March 1st. Please plan to attend one of the two orientation days. Attendance ensures a warm welcome from LNCT, introductions to garden leaders and fellow program participants, a garden walkthrough, and an overview of important garden practices and policies.
Commitment
The success of the Community Garden season is heavily dependent upon consistent participation from the start to the end of the season. As such, we ask volunteers to commit to three hours per week throughout the season with the addition of one of the winter work parties – held the second Saturday in November, December, January and February, and early Thanksgiving week. We also understand that life is life, and you may need to miss a week or two due to travel, illness, or other commitments. Communication is key! Please let Janice know of anticipated absences whenever possible so that she can plan the garden day accordingly. If you find that you will need to miss four or more weeks during the season, please reach out to Janice to discuss other options for helping to keep the garden humming! And if you can’t get enough? Greenhouse and garden maintenance is needed throughout the year!
Typical Day
8:45-8:55 AM: Arrive, put your stuff in the barn, sign in on timesheet
9:00 AM: Circle Up for overview of the day’s tasks and individual assignments
– Gather tools (e.g. bucket, knee pad, weeding tool, shovel, etc) and head to the assigned area for field training before digging in. (Don’t forget to stay hydrated and take breaks as needed!).
10:30 AM (Tuesdays): Return to barn for harvest share! (We do this Tuesdays so that we can take produce and plants to our food scarcity partners in time for their distribution).
11:30 AM: Bell rings – Time to wrap it up, clean & return tools, head to the barn for the day’s lesson (and harvest share on Saturdays!).
12:00 PM: Gather your things and head out.
Drive slowly and safely. See you next week!
Typical garden tasks include seed starting, planting, composting, weeding, harvesting, filling wheelbarrows with soil, compost or chips and distributing them throughout the garden, pruning, preparing community food donations, and much more. Garden area leaders host volunteers for learning and tasks in the row garden, permaculture area, orchard, irrigation, greenhouse, compost area. While many community garden tasks do require a level of physical work, we want to emphasize that there is a place and a task for everyone! We are committed to making our program as inclusive as possible and prioritizing everyone’s safety and wellbeing. If you have questions about your ability to participate, or require accommodation, please reach out to Janice to discuss.
Thank you! We look forward to welcoming you during one of our orientations and gardening with you throughout the season!
