ORGANIC GARDEN PLOTS

The plot fees are $120 for a full-size plot (20 feet x 40 feet) and $75 for a half-size plot ( 20 feet x 20 feet).  This fee includes the tilling of the garden by the El Paso County Parks & Community Services Department in the early spring and again after the garden closes in the fall, the cost of water for the gardening season, and all other repair and maintenance expenses.

First time gardeners are charged a $25 clean-up deposit.  The deposit is refunded if the plot is cleaned off completely at the end of the gardening season.

Located on two acres in Bear Creek Regional Park, and run by the Bear Creek Garden Association, the Charmaine Nymann Community Garden consists of 104 full size plots.  The garden is surrounded by a five-foot high fence with seven gates. An underground network of water pipes delivers city water to faucets located adjacent to each group of four plots.

GARDENING IN THE GOLDEN YEARS - BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY GARDENING

An excerpt from a March 19, 2024 article by Debbie Kelley in The Gazette titled "Gardening in the Golden Years: Growing old and staying young" which featured the Charmaine Nymann Community Garden and some of its senior gardeners can be accessed by clicking this link.

GARDENING GUIDELINES

In Cooperation with El Paso County Parks & Community Services Department, BCGA has established rules and guidelines for each gardener to follow.  Click Bear Creek Garden Association Rules to download and print for your reference.

REQUIRED FORMS

Application:   Interested in renting a plot?  Call Todd Hegert at (719) 329-8873.

Unconditional Release:  The registration process for a plot includes online acknowledgement of an Unconditional Release. All plot owners and any other adults who are helping them work on their plots must also acknowledge the Unconditional Release before being permitted to work in the garden.

GARDENERS ARE ASKED TO NOTIFY THE BEAR CREEK GARDEN ASSOCIATION BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO [email protected] WHEN THESE SITUATIONS OCCUR:

• They will be away from home for more than two weeks
• They have to give up gardening and abandon a plot
• They need advice for weed or bug control
• They find a leak in the water system (Call Todd at (719) 329-8873 and Parks Department (719) 520-6375
• The gates have been left unlocked
• They need a new key or badge
• They want to register a new person to help them with the plot
• They see a job in the garden that they are qualified to help with!

CONTACT THE COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT (444-7000 OR 911):

If you see anything that is dangerous or threatening to you in the park. We encourage you to work in the garden only when another gardener is present and only during daylight hours.

CALENDAR

Annual dates for classes, opening and closing days, work days, and other events are posted on the Calendar (see the link at the bottom of this page).

EDUCATION

To kick off the gardening season, each year in March a public class on Organic Vegetable Gardening is taught by experienced Bear Creek gardeners at the Bear Creek Nature Center as part of its Sustainability Series. For more information about this class, visit www.elpasocountynaturecenters.com or call (719) 520-6387. 

In mid-April before the garden opens, new gardeners attend a detailed orientation class. Gardeners are given the Bear Creek Garden Handbook, compiled over the years by many of the gardeners. (See Handbook link on the home page of this site.)

Click Colorado State University Extension website for a wealth of information about planting and garden care:

• Soil Amendments
• Growing plants from seed.
• Powdery Mildew
• Onion Leaf Blight
• Tomato problems
• And much much more!

VOLUNTEER HOURS

Plot renters are required to do a minimum of four hours of volunteer work per gardening season. The volunteer tasks involved include helping to stake out the garden in the spring, caring for donation plots, cleaning up neglected or vacant plots, weeding in areas outside the garden fence, repairs, fundraising, publicity and outreach and other manual labor or clerical tasks.

PLOT CLEANUP

The entire garden must be down to bare dirt by 4:00 p.m. on Closing Day in mid-October. Gardeners are responsible for their plots and also for the aisles around their plots. All heavy materials, including cornstalks and heavy roots such as broccoli and cabbage, and all vines, including cucumber, tomato, squash and pumpkin, and any diseased or insect-infested plants must be removed and placed in the dumpsters. All green growing plants must be pulled up by the roots. Small litter, including straw and Garden Mix, may be left on the plot and will be tilled in by the Parks maintenance staff after the garden closes.

ROTOTILLERS

The Parks maintenance staff tills the entire garden before opening day in the spring and after closing day in the fall. Gardeners may bring in rototillers to work soil amendments into their plots during the growing season if they wish to do so.

GARDENING TOOLS

Please do not leave tools or equipment on plots overnight, as this violates the agreement between the garden association and the El Paso County Parks Department. A hose and one watering can may be stored neatly on individual plots for the entire gardening season.  

WORKDAYS

Monthly workdays, supervised by Board members, are scheduled during the gardening season and extra workdays are scheduled in October to facilitate garden cleanup. The organized workdays are the best time for gardeners to complete their 4 hour minimum volunteer work obligation.

GARDEN MIX

Each fall before the garden closes, gardeners planning to return for the following season can place orders for a special blend of compost and manure known as Garden Mix to be applied in the fall as a soil amendment. One cubic yard per full-sized plot is recommended, and some gardeners use more.  Gardeners must order and pay for Garden Mix before the payment deadline and must provide a clear space on their plots where a skid loader can deliver the amount they have ordered. Gardeners are not required to order Garden Mix.

The Garden Mix will be delivered to the area inside the Truck Gate and will then be carried to individual plots by a Parks maintinance staff worker using a skid loader. Garden Mix is a soil amendment prepared by Don’s Garden Shop.

DUMPSTERS

Dumpsters will be provided from Labor Day weekend until the garden closes.  They will be located in the north parking lot near the two main gates. These are explicitly for the refuse you remove from your plot. When a dumpster is full, do not pile refuse around it because the trash removal company will not pick up refuse that is left on the ground. Instead, consider bagging your refuse, keeping it on your plot until the dumpsters have been emptied and then putting it into a dumpster. While the dumpsters are available until closing day, it is wise to get your plot cleaned early and your refuse into an available dumpster, as things tend to get backed up in the last ten days before closing.

GARDEN LOCKED FOR WINTER

The garden gates are locked with “winter locks” after the closing day. Gardeners should discard their summer keys after the garden closes because they will not work in the winter locks. New locks and keys are purchased each spring for the upcoming garden season.