Lakeside Community Garden
Overview
The Lakeside Community Garden is divided into several dozen individual plots, each of which is cultivated by an assigned resident gardener. Provided you’re willing follow a few simple garden rules, and plan to live at Lakeside throughout the summer, you are eligible to apply for a plot, and we would love to have you in the garden!
If you’re interested in becoming a gardener at Lakeside, please review the information provided on this website, especially the Application Procedure, Garden Handbook, and Key Dates, detailed below. The Handbook contains all rules and regulations of the garden.
If you have questions not answered by the information available on this site, please contact the Lakeside Garden Coordinator, Zoe Volenec, at zvolenec@princeton.edu
Check out photos of last year’s garden.
Application Procedure
Any Lakeside resident is eligible to receive a plot, provided they satisfy a couple qualifications, pay a small annual deposit which is partly refunded at the end of the season, and consistently follow garden rules throughout the growing season.
Qualifications for receiving a plot:
1. Residency for the majority of the growing season. In order to be eligible to garden, a resident must anticipate living at Lakeside at least through the end of August in the growing season in question.
2. The gardener to whom the plot is formally assigned must be a Princeton University student. This is because the refundable portion of the annual deposit can be returned only via the University’s Concur system, which will electronically credit the refund to the student’s account. Non-student residents of Lakeside are entirely welcome to lead the cultivation of their household’s plot, but the plot must formally be assigned to a student. Exceptions may be made to this under extenuating circumstances, please contact the current garden coordinator if you feel this applies to you.
Annual deposit: The deposit amount is $20, $10 of which will be refundable.
Garden rules are laid out in the Lakeside Community Garden Handbook. All gardeners must read and consent to the rules laid out in the Handbook before being assigned a plot.
Plot size and availability: Gardeners will be asked to specify in their application how large of a plot they would like. In the event that the total amount of growing space requested exceeds what is available, the Garden Coordinator will attempt to accommodate all prospective gardeners by reducing somewhat the size of each gardener’s requested plot. In the event that demanded space still outstrips supply after a modest reduction of this sort, the Garden Coordinator will first assign plots based on garden seniority (with prior-year gardeners in good standing receiving priority), and then assign all remaining plots to new applicants by lottery. Any resident who applies for but does not receive a plot will be placed on a waitlist. If a plot in the garden subsequently becomes available, a lottery of all waitlisted gardeners will be held, and the applicant whose name is drawn will receive first right of refusal for the newly available plot.
Online application: Click here!
Key Dates
1. April 12 to April 19: 2019 plot applications are open (begins one week after Room Draw results are posted)
2. The last weekend of April (4/26-27): A brief but mandatory orientation meeting. Gardeners will pay their 2019 deposit to the Garden Coordinator and will be instructed on the use of tools, watering systems, locks and gates, and other garden necessities. Immediately after completing this orientation, gardeners are free to begin planting and working their plots.
Two notes on planting time: first, it is possible that temperatures in central New Jersey may fall below freezing anytime before mid-May, so keep an eye on the forecast and plant earlier than this at your own risk. Second, you can gain a valuable head start by planting potted seedlings in your apartment in advance of the garden’s opening.
Refund Procedure
Please refer to the following page: Lakeside Community Garden Refund Procedure
