What Makes a Good Garden Sharing Agreement? (And why did they change the Obama White House garden?)

The more you specify boundaries and expectations, the better your relationship will work. Agreements don’t have to be long - a garden agreement can be as simple as “You’ll keep 3 bee boxes behind our garage in exchange for 20% of the honey” or as complex as a land lease. When deciding on the level of detail, what’s important is that you anticipate potential concerns and make a plan to deal with them in advance.

Often the expectations are in the form of a Garden Plan.

How to Make a Garden Plan
1, Make a simple map
2. Make a few copies of it, so you can start over easily when you change your mind
3. Draw in where the different food will go
4. Consider different seasons and how things will grow and change
5. Write it all down, and attach it to your garden sharing agreement

More details are covered in our What To Talk About section. By talking it all through first, you’ll avoid bad surprises.

Examples of Garden Sharing Agreements

1 – “The Basic”
An agreement can be as simple as

___________________ will do _________________________
___________________ will provide _____________________
_____________________ will pay for ___________________
And the produce will be split like this: __________________

That’s it.

2 – “The Standard”
See our template for a sample garden share agreement. It’s attached as a download-able Word document, so you may edit to your heart’s content.

3 – “The High Stakes”
Consider a garden sharing agreement for a 5th grade class gardening on government property, in this case the South Lawn of the temporary residence of the Leader of the Free World.

Like any good garden share agreement, the focus would be on Access, Boundaries, and Expectations.

Here’s the actual garden plan - called a "Fact Sheet" by the White House press office.

… and here’s a map of the Obama White House garden.

More on the Obama White House Garden
Garden sharing obsessives will note that the white house garden map has changed:
Original Kitchen Garden Diagram
New Kitchen Garden Diagram
This is the true spirit of garden-sharing: it’s a flexible plan. They changed mid-stream, but kept the plan specific.

White House Kitchen Garden Fact Sheet
LOCATION
The White House Kitchen Garden measures approximately 1100 square feet and is located on the west side of the South Lawn. It is visible from E Street, with a perfect southern exposure which provides a great deal of sun light.

SOIL
The soil was tested and was found to be in good shape, including trace elements. Amendments have been made to enrich the soil and rock dusts of lime, green sand, crab meal sourced from the Chesapeake Bay and White House compost have been added to improve the macro and micro nutrient balance. Only organic fertilizers and insect repellants will be used and lady bugs and praying mantises will be introduced to naturally control other insect populations. A honey bee hive has been set up nearby for pollination purposes.

PLANTS
The four-season herb, fruit and vegetable garden will feature 25 varieties of heirloom seeds planted in slightly raised beds using succession planting methods.

Perennial Herbs:
Mint, Garlic Chives, Chives, Thyme, Oregano, Anise hyssop, Sage, Rosemary, Marjoram, Chamomile

Annual Herbs:
Parsley, Basil, Thai basil, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel

Vegetables:
Lettuces (Green Oak Leaf, Red Romaine, Butterhead, Speckled), Spinach, Onions, Shallots, Chard, Snap Peas, Shell Peas, Carrots, Black Kale, Rhubarb, Arugula, Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Peppers (sweet and hot), Beans, Cucumbers, Okra, Sweet Potatoes

Fruits:
Blueberries, Raspberries

Additionally, The Monticello Foundation and head gardener Peter Hatch have donated seeds and sprouts that originated in Thomas Jefferson’s garden. Plantings will include Brown Dutch and Tennis Ball lettuces, Savoy Cabbage, and Prickly Seed Spinach, all reportedly Jefferson’s favorites, and a favorite fig plant, the Marseille Fig, will be planted in a raised bed with Mint.

MAINTENANCE
The garden will be tended by Dale Haney, Grounds Superintendent for the White House, and the White House kitchen staff, including Sam Kass, Assistant White House Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator. Students from Bancroft Elementary in Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC will participate in the groundbreaking, planting and harvesting of the garden.

HARVEST
Produce from the garden and honey from the hive will be available to the White House Chefs for preparing meals for the First Family, for official functions and donations will be made to Miriam’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen near the White House.

COSTS
The cost for the seeds and amendments is approximately $200.