Registration for the 2025 growing season is open!
Read all about collective garden sites, membership, and fees below. When you are ready to register, follow this link: Collective Garden Registration Form. The registration deadline is March 7.
Seedsong Collective Garden and Starr Collective Garden are two member-run collective gardens managed in partnership with Vermont Garden Network (VGN). We are inspired by organic farming, agroecology, permaculture, and market gardening movements and apply these practices at both sites.
Over the years, VGN has become acquainted with challenges at each site – notably, devastating floods at Seedsong and deer pressure at Starr. Our shift towards a hub and spoke model whereby both gardens will be working in tandem is our approach to address these challenges and share abundance.
VGN will coordinate crop plans, purchase bulk materials, distribute surplus harvest when available or necessary, and partner with a team of garden mentors at each site. Mentors work closely together to coordinate weekly work shifts in the gardens so that members know what tasks to focus on. Each collective garden will have its own crew responsible for all garden management at that site; however in the case of major flooding or pest damage, your garden may become everyone’s garden. As Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, “All flourishing is mutual.”
The beauty of the collective is that if life happens, the collective has you covered and the garden will remain productive. If you hurt your back and cannot shovel another wheelbarrow of compost, speak up and someone else will do it. If you will be traveling for the month of July and absent from weekly garden shifts, let us know and we can plan accordingly. Likewise, if a member needs to take time off or needs help lifting and you are able to step up, you are encouraged to do so.
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Step 1: Choose Your Garden Site
We encourage you to choose a garden site that is most accessible to you on a regular basis or a location that you have a personal connection to. For example, if you live in the New North End or have a dog who you frequently take to the Starr Farm dog park, then joining Starr might make the most sense for you. Alternatively, if you live closer to downtown Burlington/Winooski or enjoy walking paths through the Intervale, then Seedsong might make the most sense for you.
Both garden sites have a similar square footage (~4,000sqft) and perennials including asparagus, berries, medicinal and culinary herbs. Both sites have ample free parking, picnic tables, and a dog-on-leash policy. Both sites require gardeners to walk on a grassy lawn to access the garden. See below for specific locations and accessibility considerations at each site. You will be asked to select your garden site in the Collective Garden Registration Form. VGN can welcome a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 20 gardeners at each site.
- Seedsong is located at the Intervale within the Tommy Thompson Community Garden, at the Intervale, in Burlington. Accessible via bike, walking from the Old North End, or car. If biking or walking, please note that there is a steep hill to navigate to/from the garden. Opening day is Saturday April 5th and closing day is Saturday October 18th.
- Starr is located within the Starr Farm Community Garden, in the New North End, in Burlington. Accessible via bike (located right off the bike path), car, walking distance from New North End neighborhoods and a 12 minute walk from bus stop on North Ave, corner of Starr Farm Rd. Opening day is Saturday April 12th and closing day is Saturday October 25.
Having access to these lands is a gift. We honor and express gratitude toward the indigenous peoples and seed stewards who came before us. We tend to this land by cultivating soil fertility and saving seeds with future generations in mind. We are also grateful for Burlington Area Community Gardens (BACG) and shared infrastructure that facilitates our access to water, picnic shelters, community fruit orchards and pollinator habitat.
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Step 2: Review Member Expectations
Sign up for a 2hr weekly garden shift
This is where the real work begins! Show up ready to dig your hands in the soil. We provide all the necessary tools and materials, you arrive with a collective spirit to jump in where you are most needed. All members must be able to consistently join at least one of these weekly shifts, Mondays 5-7pm, Wednesdays 5:30-7:30pm or Fridays 7-9am. All members take turns covering one weekend shift over the course of the seven months.
Once a month participate in Saturday work day
These work days are for each individual garden and gives time for garden members to meet each other and tackle bigger projects like prepping beds, installing fencing, planting the herb garden, etc. Work days at Seedsong are the 1st Saturday of the month from 9am-12pm and workdays at Starr are the second Saturday of the month from 9am-12pm.
Once a month join a weekly potluck
These much anticipated gatherings are intended for both gardens to come together to savor seasonal harvest and weave together our garden community. The potluck will alternate from taking place at Seedsong and Starr. For one Thursday in midsummer, VGN will host a make and take workshop to process a big batch of kimchi or make herbal remedies. These gatherings are held on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 5:30-7pm beginning in May.
Keep up with garden member communication
The collective uses group emails, a Shared Google Drive folder, and a WhatsApp group to communicate. You should expect weekly communication from the garden mentor team to confirm upcoming dates, share friendly reminders on systems we have in place, and many other timely announcements that help keep collective gardens running smoothly.
Take home harvest
As harvest comes into abundance, you are encouraged to take home harvest for your individual consumption on a weekly basis. When there is extra harvest (as the season progresses, there often is!), we encourage you to take more harvest to share with your home and broader community.
Sign agreements
All garden members are asked to sign a garden agreement, liability waiver and media release form.
Contribute a garden membership fee
See below for more details.
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Step 3: Contribute a Membership Fee
Our sliding scale fee structure encourages everyone to contribute as much as they can, keeping in mind how much time and energy they dedicate to the garden, how much harvest they take home, and their financial position to support gardeners with more limited income.
To put it into perspective…
Renting a full garden plot in Burlington’s community gardens costs $110. That fee simply gives you access to land. Add the cost of compost, amendments, straw, seeds, starts, flower bulbs, trellises, gloves, pruners… and you are getting close to investing $300-$500. Now plan on watering daily during summer heat, keeping up with aggressive weeds, and knowing what to do when Colorado potato beetles devour your plants. All that time and energy has a cost too.
A small CSA share at local farms ranges between $400-650. Although you won’t get quite as much consistent harvest at Seedsong or Starr (we are small-scale gardeners, not market-focused farmers!), you will still take home a considerable amount of seasonal harvest, including flowers, culinary and medicinal herbs.
Pay-it-forward: $600 – Reflects the full cost of managing a collective garden and allows VGN to offer a reduced fee for those who need it.
Fair share: $450 – Covers costs.
Reduced fee for anyone who needs it: $300 – We have a limited number of reduced fee memberships to offer. We will post updates if/when they are no longer available.
Payment plan: $150 deposit required. We will be in touch to schedule monthly payments. Your total sliding scale membership fee of $300-$600 must be fully paid by July 1, 2025.
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By joining a collective garden you will have access to:
Materials
- All gardening inputs, including: compost, soil amendments, seeds, plant starts, fertilizers, pest management sprays
- An assortment of essential gardening tools, including: long-handled tools, hand tools, pruners, scissors, broadfork, watering cans, collapsible hose, quality watering wand
- Helpful gardening supplies, including: trellises, twine, row cover, weed mat, low tunnel for season extension, harvest baskets and strainers
Mentorship
“The mentors helped with their wonderful knowledge and direction – knowing what needed doing, organizing tasks, giving demonstrations as needed. Knowledge like “what is that plant” and “how do you know it’s ready for harvest”. Plus ways to store and cook various veggies. Absolutely invaluable.”
- Members are supported by experienced mentors who provide guidance in following the task list, support to answer questions, and maintain continuity between each shift.
- Take the pressure off and learn by doing. No matter the level of gardening experience you have, you are guaranteed to learn something new about gardening without the pressure of having to do it all on your own. Members acquire gardening skills by working alongside each other, with hands in the soil and by gaining access to video tutorials that demonstrate how to secure row cover, harvest certain crops, and more.
Harvest
- Weekly: Most seasonal produce is harvested and distributed during weekly garden work shifts. Members dedicate 2hrs of physical work in the garden in exchange for taking home harvest.
- PYO: Some crops are available for pick-your-own on a flexible schedule. Members can visit the garden anytime to harvest crops such as lettuce, kale, spinach, chard, culinary & medicinal herbs, and flowers.
- Bulk: A handful of crops are harvested all at once and then equitably distributed among members during community work days, monthly potlucks or on a pick-up basis. Storage crops that we commonly bulk harvest include: garlic, potatoes, fall root vegetables, and winter squash.
- Cross sharing abundance: Sharing crops that are in over abundance between Seedsong and Starr is possible. For example, if it’s a bumper tomato year and there are too many cherry tomatoes for one collective to consume, the other will be invited to harvest.
- Crop loss assurance: In the case of crop loss in one garden, the other garden will supply harvest to the affected garden to the extent possible. In most cases of crop loss, VGN will coordinate replanting and shared harvest to support the affected garden.
Food as medicine:
- Take home regular supplies of medicinal herbs from both perennial and annual plants in the garden and surrounding plantings.
- Access to perennial fruits (like apples & pears) and berries (like raspberries & aronia) from neighboring perennial plantings.
Community
- Monthly potlucks are much-loved gatherings to celebrate the harvest season, share recipes, and enjoy each other.
- Group messaging via WhatsApp keeps garden members connected and serves as timely communication for garden-related announcements.
- Enjoy the benefits of collective gardening: flexibility, mutual support, friendships. When many people share a garden space, we are each able to take time off and trust that someone else is taking care of the garden, we meet new people and form meaningful relationships while weeding, and we go home with nourishing food!
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Step 4: Register!
Please fill out the online Collective Garden Registration Form to save your spot and make your payment. Registration is first come, first served. Registration deadline: 3/7
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