Would you like to increase your involvement in environmental justice and deepen your connection to City Blossoms, our gardens, and DC communities? By signing up to become a Garden Steward, you will spend a minimum of 15 hours during the calendar year assisting in ongoing garden maintenance, participating in projects, and attending garden workdays and Open Times. Perks include early access to volunteer opportunities, exclusive access to select learning opportunities, and free merch at various Garden Steward “levels.” Contact cara@cityblossoms.org with any questions.
Already a Garden Steward? Log your hours and access the catalogue here!
Commitments
Time commitment: 15 hours per calendar year minimum. You can get hours through any number of opportunities, but we recommend trying to attend at least one garden workday and one Open Time. We highly recommend becoming a regular volunteer at one of our weekly Open Times for the most rewarding stewarding experience. Through regular volunteering, you will become more knowledgeable of the garden and more connected to the community around it.
Site commitment: Become a "go-to contact" for garden maintenance at a site of your choice. This simply means that you will be added to a site-specific email list to receive updates on task lists and volunteer callouts. We recommend selecting the site closest to you or that you plan to spend the most time in. Here are the available sites:
Communication: By becoming a Garden Steward, you are consenting to receive occasional email updates relating to this program, your maintenance site of choice, and other volunteer opportunities. We also recommend regularly checking the Garden Steward Catalogue page for early and exclusive opportunities, which you will receive access to after signing up.
Levels and Perks
There are many benefits to volunteering with City Blossoms, such as gaining community service hours, taking home produce as available during Open Time and other events, connecting to community, learning about gardening, and receiving invitations to fun celebrations and social events. In addition to this, Garden Stewards can move through the following four tiers of perks based on hours benchmarks and other volunteer achievements.
Level 1: Seed
After making the commitment to complete 15 volunteer hours, Garden Stewards will gain access to a private volunteer catalogue that is a one-stop-shop for viewing opportunities and logging hours. This includes:
Early access to volunteer opportunities
Exclusive access to select volunteer projects (i.e. supporting art design or doing self-led garden maintenance)
Learning opportunities such as invitations to select staff skillshares
Level 2: Sprout
After completing 10 hours, you can get a set of 5 stickers or 3 recipe cards.
Level 3: Blossom
After either completing 15 hours or attending 5 Open Times, you can receive your choice of a shirt or tote bag.
Level 4: Flower
If you go above and beyond and complete 30 hours or attend 10 Open Times, you can receive your choice of a shirt, tote bag, or our cookbook.
* Note that any items earned will need to be picked up at our Studio or at a future volunteer opportunity.
Getting and tracking your hours
We offer many volunteer opportunities, so Garden Stewards should have no problem reaching the 15 hour minimum. For reference, we generally offer around 100 hours of garden workdays and around 180 hours of Open Times throughout the year. After signing up, Garden Stewards will have access to a private catalogue of ongoing volunteer projects, events, and site maintenance needs. Volunteers will be responsible for tracking and submitting their hours on the catalogue after each opportunity that they attend. After reaching a new level, the volunteer should notify Cara via email and schedule an item pickup. Volunteers can also email Cara to request an update on their hours.
How can I sign up?
After reading this page in its entirety, just fill out the form below! You will receive a confirmation email that includes the link and password for the Garden Steward Catalogue, as well as an invitation for an optional 1:1 orientation call with Cara.