One of the first steps to starting an urban garden is choosing the group of volunteers that you're going to be working alongside. When you're first starting out, it makes a lot of sense to keep your group small--somewhere between 6 and 9 people. More than that and you'll run into challenges with organizing everyone.

Recruit volunteers that not only have the interest in getting involved, but also have the time to commit.

What about the kids?

Think about how to incorporate kids into the planning and maintenance of the garden. Here are a couple of ways you can do that:

• Create a section just for kids and have them create their own team and schedule
• Partner kids with adults (in fact, roles could be families and not just individuals)
• Create a role specifically for engaging kids in every aspect of the garden. If possible, assign a teenager or a team with a child included in the role.

ASSIGNING/ DIVVYING UP TASKS:

• Divide up the work based on what people like to do, and what they're good at. If someone really doesn't like to water plants, don't make them the one responsible for watering! Give volunteers something to do that they can enjoy, and that they'll take ownership of it--just make sure that all the necessary roles are accounted for.
• When you're starting out, your group will be small enough that you won't need to assign formal titles to each member, but as your group grows, you might want to consider having someone take on specific roles to keep things organized. Having one member of the group act as treasurer, or communications coordinator to organize your group's social media account or newsletter, might eventually make sense.

NOMINATE A LEADER / COORDINATOR:

• While not mandatory, having someone act as head of the garden community will make organizing tasks and work days a lot simpler. Anyone who's ever volunteered before can tell you that it all runs a lot smoother if someone just owns the leadership role. And keep in mind it doesn't have to be you, even if it was your idea to start the garden! As with all tasks/ roles within the group, pick a leader based on who wants it most, and who has the time to own that responsibility. Consider rotating the person who holds the position every year.

Below are a suggested list of roles that you will need for your garden. While we suggest some "titles", feel free to have fun and make your own titles (example: watering could be "rainmaker"). It's just important that everyone know what's expected of them.

Roles: