Community Garden

Community Garden

Take Root

If you’ve always been interested in growing your own food but don’t have the space, the Michael Ruterbories Memorial Community Garden is just what you need. 

This community garden includes 31 raised, wooden garden beds available in two sizes – eight feet by twelve feet ($25) and eight feet by eight feet ($20) – and located next to Village Court Apartments.

We provide the water and topsoil/compost mix, you take it from there. Plots are open to Mountain Village residents, groups, families, organizations and businesses from May 1 to October 31, daylight hours only. Within the fenced garden, you can grow fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Since it is an organic garden, herbicides, pesticides and commercial fertilizers are not allowed. To reserve your garden plot today, please complete the application and return it to the Village Court Apartments office. Gardeners will be assigned a garden plot on a first-come, first-served basis.

Garden Rules

If any of the below rules are broken, the gardener will forfeit their garden plot and must remove all their personal gardening items within 24 hours. VCA staff and the garden committee will be ensuring that this happens.

  • The garden is only open daylight hours

  • Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult

  • No dogs allowed within the perimeter of the garden

  • Each gardener is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of their garden plot and the pathways around it

  • No personal items are allowed outside of the plot(s) that you are assigned. All tools should be stored in the shared garden shed. If any personal items are left in the garden, the maintenance team will take the items to the maintenance shop. If the items are not retrieved within 30 days, they will be discarded.

  • Garden plots must be cared for each week. If a gardener misses a week, please arrange for a friend to tend your garden

  • Trash must be removed from the community garden area

  • Plots should be kept free of weeds and invasive plants

  • No marijuana plants are allowed to be grown

  • Trellises and support should be kept at a reasonable height to avoid shading other garden plots. Plants should be kept from sprawling onto pathways and other garden plots.

  • Please do not water, weed, tend or take items from another person’s garden without their consent

  • At the end of the season, plots are to be cleaned and cleared up by Oct. 31

  • Avoid wasteful use of water

  • Gardeners may pay for up to 1 plot each up until June 1st.

  • The garden shed is for all gardeners and should only be used for storing gardening tools. If any personal items are found in the shed, the maintenance team will remove them.

  • If any plots are still unoccupied after June 1st, current plot holders may pay for up to 2 additional plots. However, at the beginning of the following season, these additional plots will be thought of as vacant plots.

  • If you feel that someone is violating one of the terms of the garden agreement, please submit a complaint in writing to VCA Staff. Complaints will be reviewed, investigated and addressed by VCA staff on a case-by-case basis.

  • VCA has the right to revoke garden privileges at any time if they determine that the garden is being misused, or if one of the terms of this agreement is being violated.

  • If your garden privileges are revoked, you will be given 24 hours to remove any plants, personal items or gardening tools from the garden that you would like to keep. At that point you will lose all rights to your garden plot and anything located inside of it. If gardening privileges are revoked for violation of these terms, garden plot fees will not be refunded and you may not be allowed to use the community garden in the future.

  • Gardeners shall not harass, disrespect, denigrate, or verbally abuse any other gardeners or the admin.

  • If you have informally been planting in a garden plot and that plot is assigned to a new garden user, you must remove your garden items from the plot within 48 hours of notification otherwise your plantings are forfeited.