Community Gardens - An Essential Business

Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust’s Tom Settlemire Community Garden

Community gardens are an important piece of our local food system, a source of food for families and food grown for donation in common good plots. The Tom Settlemire Community Garden in Brunswick, run by our partner Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, was just granted essential business status by the State of Maine. To request designation as an essential business for your community garden or other business complete this form.

We have compiled protocols other community gardens have developed for this unique growing season.

COVID-19 Resources for Community Gardens

• NC Cooperative Extension Covid-19 Best Practice for Community Gardens

  • Many CG are using NC’s guidelines

• COVID-19 FAQs for Community Gardens

• Florida Cooperative Extension Covid-19 Best Practice for Community Gardens

• Vermont Community Garden Network Covid-19 Best Practice for Community Gardens

• Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry:

  • guidelines for Growers and Producers

  • food manufacturing safety protocols for Covid-19

• Portland Oregon Garden Orientation Slides

  • Tool for conducting electronic/online orientation

• Maine Cooperative Extension is hosting Weekly Zoom Chats on Garden Topics

  • All gardeners are invited to join members of the UMaine Extension Home Horticulture team as they offer short online lessons on featured topics followed by a facilitated discussion with fellow gardeners from around the state and beyond. 

  • Begin March 30th, 2020 - 1hr long

    • Monday at 9am, Wednesday at 12pm, and Thursday at 6pm

    • Schedule and Zoom link is located here

• Maine Cooperative Extension tool for designing protocols: How to Build Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

This is a great time to start planning and planting for your health and that of your family and your community! If you have the space and time, consider growing an extra row (or several) for donation to one of these pantries.

For a list of local community gardens, tips on growing your own food, and farms and businesses selling seeds and seedlings, see our new compilation of grow your own resources!

SNAP benefits can be used to purchase seeds and seedlings farms, markets and retail locations!