Volunteering and Garden Location

Sharing Gardens Location:
664 Orchard St., Monroe, OR 97456
(behind the big, white church building: Heritage Hall) 

We live in a bright yellow old farmhouse at the back of the parking lot; with a 6-foot wooden fence around it and a large Hickory tree next to our driveway. The Sharing Gardens are behind the wide, metal farm gate next to the house.

 

To contact us by email: ShareInJoy AT gmail.com.

Our home phone is: 541-847-8797 (no texting)

Please call: 8:00 to noon or 2:00 to 5:00. (We take a rest between noon and 2:00 each day.)

 

Volunteering: Participating at the Sharing Gardens is more than your typical volunteer job. We welcome share-givers (volunteers) into our home and onto our land to share in the experience of growing food without chemicals or animal by-products to create fertility in a spirit of mutual generosity.

 

If interested, participants will learn about the full seasonal growing cycle: from planting seeds, growing them out, harvesting food and saving seeds for the future. 

 

Everyone who contributes to the Sharing Gardens, whether through time, money or materials, shares in the the harvest, receiving a weekly food box with whatever is coming ripe at the time. There is a wonderful feeling of camaraderie and closeness that develops amongst the people who help grow and harvest the food. 

Our surplus fruits and vegetables are donated to local food charities. 

 

Cabbage harvest!

We're looking for folks who are basically physically fit and doing their best to live a healthy lifestyle and who generally demonstrate a generous/service-oriented spirit in the world. 

 

We believe that being generous, creates abundance and want to be with people who share this philosophy. 

The garden is a sanctuary for the people who come here; a place where the rest of the world falls away and we can all experience a feeling of cooperation and mutual-caring while learning and sharing valuable hands-on skills. To support the structure of this learning and caring environment we ask that you:

• Come on time
• Please don't bring: tobacco, alcohol, junk-food, or conversations dwelling on negative, depressing thoughts.
• Come with a spirit of fun and service.

Our regularly-scheduled share-giver hours run from mid-spring to late fall with regular weekly garden-sessions on Mondays and Fridays - 9:00 to noon.

 

During the winter months, you can come play in the gardens if you make specific arrangements with us. 

Harvesting potatoes!

Spaces are limited and we favor those who can come consistently and merge with the feeling of community our gardens are based on. Most of our volunteers choose one session per week and come weekly. This helps us with coordinating and staging projects. All share-givers go through a trial period to see if we're a good 'fit' for each other. 

 

If you feel attracted to what the Sharing Gardens has to offer, the first step is to send us an email (shareinjoy AT gmail.com) so we can set up a time to meet, ask/answer questions. Then, if it seems like a good fit, we'll decide which of the two weekly sessions you can join. We look forward to meeting you! 

 

Garden coordinator - Chris

 

Garden coordinator: Llyn

 

  Volunteers learn about all aspects of growing food organically:

Rann, transplanting seedlings in the greenhouse.

Amy, Cindy and Adri (our youngest helper) sort donated pots and flats.

John and Llyn planting peas.

OSU students, planting lettuce and mulching with straw.

Sierra and Mike painting a counter-top.

Llyn and Roberto, planting onions.

Volunteers also share in our bounteous harvest!

Here's a LINK to a short video made by and OSU student who came to the Sharing Gardens in 2017. It explains the project quite well! 

 

If you feel attracted to what the Sharing Gardens has to offer, the first step is to send us an email (shareinjoy AT gmail.com) so we can set up a time to meet, ask/answer questions. Then, if it seems like a good fit, we'll decide which of the two weekly sessions you can join. We look forward to meeting you!