Manhattan Community Gardens
The Manhattan Community Gardens are a cooperative gardening project located in the south part of Manhattan, Kansas. Land is provided by the City of Manhattan and by Riley County. UFM Community Learning Center supervises the project. Garden sites are located in southern Manhattan at 9th and Riley Lane and at 1435 Collins Lane. A small plot rental fee is charged to cover costs of operating the program. Signups occur November to March each year or until all plots are rented.
Signing Up For a Garden Plot
Returning Gardener Signups (Fall 2020/Winter2021):
** MASKS REQUIRED AT ALL SIGNUPS **
* October 31st (Saturday) at Riley County Fairgrounds, Hurlburt Barn
9:00 am – 12:00 pm – exact signup time depends on your last name see below:
– Last names A – E from 9:00 – 10:00 am
– Last names F – O from 10:00 – 11:00 am
– Last names P – Z from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
* After November 2nd, Mail registration form with check to UFM, 1221 Thurston, Manhattan KS 66502. Credit card payments may be made online, please click: PAY NOW. Or scroll to the bottom of this page to find the Pay Now button. You do not need a PayPal account to pay online – you may select the option “Pay with Debit or Credit Card” without creating an account. Or if you have a PayPal account you can sign in to your account.
Download: Garden Plot Rental Application
UFM is located at 1221 Thurston St in Manhattan. Parking lot in the alley between Kearney and Thurston
* December 2 (Wednesday) at UFM Solar Addition from 7:00 – 8:00 pm
* January 11 (Monday) at UFM Solar Addition from 5:30 – 6:30 pm
* Registration at UFM: returning gardeners only
– Jan. 13 (W) – from 10:00 – 11:30 am, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
– Jan. 15 (F) – from 10:00 – 11:30 am, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
– Jan 18 (M) – from 10:00 – 11:30 am, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
– Jan. 20 (W) – from 10:00 – 11:30 am, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
– Jan. 22 (F) – from 10:00 – 11:30 am, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
New Gardener and Returning Gardeners adding plots:
** MASKS REQUIRED AT ALL SIGNUPS **
* February 6 at UFM from 9:30 – 10:30 am
* February 23 at UFM from 5:30 – 6:30 pm
* March 15 at UFM from 5:30 – 6:30 pm
* April 10 (if needed) at UFM from 9:30 – 10:30 am
Preparing Your Garden Plot for Tilling
Volunteer Opportunities
One volunteer activity for the good of the gardens are required by each gardening family.
Work Days & Socials
VOLUNTEER OPTIONS
(one required)
Most options will be performing a task on any day during your signup month. There will be a limit of 5 gardeners/month for each garden.
• March 6 – group activity putting out garden hoses
• April – assigned task
• May – assigned task
• June – assigned task
• July – assigned task
• August – assigned task
• September – assigned task
• October – assigned task
• November 6 – group activity putting away hoses and cleaning sheds
• Mowing committee
• Tilling committee
• Equipment committee
Mowing
Riley Lane
May – Oct
Collins Lane — Push Mower
May – October
Collins Lane — Riding Mower
May – October
Other Opportunities
Equipment Committee
Tilling Committee
Other Approved Service
Quicklinks & Downloads
- Garden Plot Rental Application
(no need to print; copies will be available at sign-ups)
Plot Rentals
Prices vary by plot on Riley Lane. Fees on Collins Lane are $50 per plot at full pay and $25 for low income gardeners. For more information on plot rental pricing and reduced fee guidelines, see the links to the left. If you have any questions, please email communitygarden@tryufm.org.
History
The Manhattan Community Garden began in 1974 with a mini grant from ACTION, coordinated by UFM. The land was purchased by Urban Renewal and was 150 ft from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. This space was zoned as green space for the next 20 years.
The City and many volunteers cleared the old houses and trees from the site. A local nursery provided a tractor and fertilizer to turn the soil and the City agreed to install water meters and spigots at the site. The City agreed to donate water and a local bank donated seeds for the first year. During that first year, they had 60 plots planted.
A shed was donated by a developmental center and a small grant from Social Rehabilitation Services assisted during the first years. Later, in 2004, a new shed was donated by D&R Construction.
The lease on the two acres of gardening space is held by UFM Community Learning Center and renewed by the City of Manhattan every five years. A new site, Collins Lane, was added in 2012, is leased from Riley County and is open to anyone in the county.
The Manhattan Community Garden is grateful to the Riley County Commission for providing the land, to Howie’s Trash and Recycling Services for providing labor and financial resources to help develop the new site and to the City of Manhattan Parks department for helping develop the second acre at Collins Lane for gardening in 2013.
Currently, the Riley Lane Garden has 132 plots and Collins Lane has 152 plots. A plot renewal is charged on a sliding scale to cover garden expenses.