Ten Things You Need to Know About PGP Membership 2014
- All are welcome! Our mission is to teach people to grow their own food. You don’t need any gardening experience to participate
- Our gardens are short term (2-5 years) on borrowed/unused urban land – we call them Pop-up Victory Gardens
- PGP is a membership driven organization. When you register and pay the $75 fee, your membership includes classes, events, some supplies and tools and a 4×8 garden plot filled with organic soil. [FYI – you are not “renting” a garden space, you are part of a community. That means you need to do your part. If you want to just “rent” a space, this probably isn’t the project for you.]
- Scholarships are available if you can’t afford the membership fee
- Registration happens online at www.petersongarden.org
- Returning gardener registration is Feb 3-14 and new gardener registration is Feb 17 until the gardens are full
- Sign-up is on a first-come-first-served basis. We do keep a waiting list once gardens fill up just in case someone has to drop out
- The project is very popular with an 88% return rate for existing gardens – that means there’s not a lot of space available for new gardeners. Don’t be sad if you don’t get in this year – you can always volunteer
- Live orientation is mandatory for all gardeners. You will sign up for orientation when you register
- New gardens are built by the community (that means YOU) and open when construction is complete. We have two new Pop-up Victory Gardens being built in 2014 – one in Rogers Park at Howard and Ashland and one in Albany Park on the NEIU campus at Foster and St. Louis
There is a lot of demand during the registration period. Please be patient and we will answer your questions as quickly as we are able. Our website has a lot of information (sign up for the newsletter!) as does this FAQ and this VIDEO.
We are going in to our fifth year with this project and are very pleased you will be joining. The success of PGP has been because of amazing volunteers and good hearted people, like you, with a passion for making a difference and growing their own food.
#WeCanGrowIt!
I really can’t afford the registration fee at this time, but I have been dying to garden ever since I moved to Chicago in 2005 to go to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I came here from rural Massachusetts where I kept an organic garden for eighteen years. Prior to that I had an organic garden in Brooklyn for five years. I have tools, books, and a tremendous amount of knowledge about organic gardening. I’ve written earlier and volunteered to be an educator helper type person. So I just wanted to put in my two cents worth to remind you that I’m interested in a scholarship garden. I will enroll on Feb. 17.
Thanks.
Saralyn