How to start? Consider and define your specific mission. Keep in mind a few principles: Inclusion, Accessibility, Shared Responsibility.
Because "community" is as important a part of a community garden as the "garden" part, organizing the people involved in a participatory and inclusive way is critical, from the very beginning, when you're finding out who's interested, through shared decision-making about plans, expectations, garden design, roles and responsibilities, and the resolution of potential conflicts.
When a community garden fails, a frequent reason is that too much of the work fell on a handful of individuals. The more you can involve community members from the very beginning, in creating a shared vision and determining expectations and responsibilities, right on through celebrations, the more shared ownership and participation will likely result.
Here are some resources to help you and your group get organized, including samples of shared agreements such as guidelines, ground rules, etc. Even if your group collaboratively develops their own, it can be useful to see models that have been used successfully elsewhere.
Title: Get Organized
Sponsoring Organization: Vermont Community Garden Network
Description: Don't go it alone! Here's an entire web page of links to resources to help with organizing the people involved in your garden, including tips and samples of guidelines, agreements, etc. See also sections of the "Start a Garden" page for tips on how to involve others and collaboratively plan the garden.
Title: Get Organized
Sponsoring Organization: Grow Pittsburgh
Description: Excellent overview of how to formalize the understandings among the people involved in a community garden in order to minimize or prevent issues. Covers meetings, roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes, and agreements about rules and guidelines, with links to additional resources on topics such as meeting facilitation and conflict resolution.
Title: Community Gardens
Sponsoring Organization: Soil Science Society of America
Description: Useful article about how to start, organize, site and build a community garden, including best practices in often-overlooked topics such as shared leadership, transparent decision making and conflict resolution. See sections beginning with "Organize a community garden."
Because successful community gardens involve shared input and decision-making, meetings are useful, especially at several points: first, in the creation stage, to determine interest and create a shared vision of the project, and then in order to collaboratively set shared expectations for garden participants.
Title: Facilitating a Community Garden Interest Meeting
Sponsoring Organization: Man in Overalls
Description: Example of using asset-based community development (ABCD) in facilitating a community garden interest meeting.
Title: Facilitating a Community Garden Expectations Meeting
Sponsoring Organization: Denver Urban Gardens (DUG)
Description: A 3-page PDF article on how to conduct a meeting to discuss and set group expectations of community garden participants, with a goal of encouraging ownership and active participation in the community garden. DUG finds that "gardeners who are a part of building the garden’s culture are more likely to remain engaged participants throughout the season, and more likely to adhere to the expectations that they had a part in creating. Furthermore, it is easier to hold gardeners accountable when they are not meeting expectations if they were a part of the decision-making process from the start."
Creating a diverse, equitable, welcoming and inclusive community garden can require intention and specific strategies. These resources can help.
As Jackie O'Brien of InterGenerate (a Westchester-based organization that supports local food production) puts it, "Inclusion is an ongoing and iterative process that provides as many entry points for participation as possible, with repeated entry points and communication over time."
Title: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Community Gardens: Planning Guide, Goals and Activities
Sponsoring Organization: North Carolina State Extension, NC State University
Description: Excellent guide to help plan for welcoming people of all racial/ethnic groups, cultures, ages, and abilities in your community garden.
Title: Inclusive Community Gardens: Planning for Inclusive and Welcoming Spaces
Sponsoring Organizations: City of Vancouver and University of British Columbia
Description: A 58-page PDF guide, based on research, on how to create community gardens that are intentionally inclusive, accessible and welcoming.