Volunteer opportunities & reporting

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As noted in the city of Alexandria's regulations, Chinquapin gardeners who have not opted out of volunteering (and paid the higher plot rental fee) must serve at least four hours of volunteer time each season. Looking for ways to fulfill your volunteer requirement for the 2025 season? Here are some ideas: (The list will be updated throughout the season, so check the kiosk next to the shed for the most recent task list.)

Don't forget to report your hours so that you get credit for your work!

Mowing/weeding:

  1. Mowing grass in common areas. Volunteers are divided into teams and assigned to a specific common area of the gardens. It is the volunteer’s responsibility to know when mowing is needed. Primary mowers are in place, but each season backup mowers are needed. Contact: Eric Keber 
  2. Weed/cut back areas on the other side of the perimeter road that goes around the gardens. Ideally, volunteers would commit to taking care of a section on an as-needed basis. Caution: Some areas have poison ivy so wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves. There is a brush attachment for the weed wacker (do not use it without the attachment). Contact: TBD
  3. Weed whack area between North/South sidewalk and retaining wall, and between East/West sidewalk and retaining wall (near center of gardens.) Also weed whack on the outside of the fence between the loop road and garden plots and around the high school vegetable garden at the upper garden. On-going as needed, but not terribly time consuming as it doesn’t need to be done frequently. Contact:  Anne Saul or Richard Dorrier
  4. Weed/water perennial/pollinator bed at the Memorial Grove area (at the lower garden near the bench). This is an on-going task particularly during the summer. Contact: Richard Dorrier 
  5. Weed/water & help maintain the fruit tree orchard at the Memorial Grove area.  Contact: Brian Cohen
  6. Weed/water & help maintain the terraced beds planted with flowers and vegetables near the fruit trees. Contact: Miriam Hacker. 
  7. Weed, maintain the peony bed at the south end of the upper parking pad. Contact: Anne Saul.
  8. Remove vines along chain link fence – especially at entrance to parking pad and the shrub between plot D9 and the fence. Contact: Anne Saul. 
  9. Weed, maintain, plant perennials/pollinators in the strip between P2 and O5, O6 and O7. Contact: Anne Saul. 
  10. Weed and possibly plant the small raised area between plot O1 and the grass. Contact: Anne Saul. 
  11. Cut back weeds and cover officially declared vacant/abandoned plots with black plastic. (Vacant plots are listed below; do not assume a plot is vacant because it is overgrown.) (No need to completely weed plots -- just cut back enough so they can be covered with plastic.) Black plastic and U pins are in the bins next to the shed. Poke quarter size holes in plastic to drain water so that it doesn’t collect water and attract mosquitoes. Plastic also needs to be weighted down with rocks, pieces of wood, etc. as strong winds tend to lift up the plastic. It’s important that plots be covered as soon as weeds are cut back or they will return. If you don’t have time to do a full plot, do half of one completely. Please don’t plant anything in abandoned plots. Contact: Anne Saul. 
  12. Clear/mow paths around abandoned/vacant plots. (Paths around assigned plots are the responsibility of adjoining plot holders and cannot be counted as volunteer hours.) Contact: Anne Saul

Other projects/ways to get volunteer hours: 

  1. Attend Chinquapin Organic Gardens Advisory board meetings. (Held at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of most months via Zoom. Meetings last about one hour. If interested, contact: Anne Saul for Zoom connection information.
  2. Monitoring -- this is a 1-1.5 hour task that occurs at 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning in April, June, August, October and early December. Contact: Anne Saul.
  3.  Path leveling/restoration. A number of paths have been identified as needing to be shored up/leveled to provide safer access for gardeners, prevent erosion and flooding in plots. Requires physical dexterity and ability to use drill & power saw. Work is best done in teams of three-four. Contact: Tracy Friend.
  4.  Plot marker replacement: This involves two tasks, one involves no physical labor (lettering); the installation requires physical strength, so you can choose what works for you. Contact: Kathryn Long
  5. Trash/litter maintenance: Help check trash & yard waste bins on a regular basis to remove items not allowed (this is spelled out clearly in the garden regulations). Also help with maintaining the gardens, picnic areas, and adjacent surroundings including the wooded area east of the garden plots free of litter & trash. Also help with sorting & getting the large trash pile by the lower mulch bins ready for pick-up by the City (usually a late-in-the season task). Contact: Richard Dorrier 
  6.  Clean up area around the shed – folding black plastic and repacking long bins, disposing of unusable tomato cages in lower trash pile behind mulch bin. Contact: Anne Saul.
  7. Sharpen hand tools in shed. (Sharpeners are hanging on pegboard.) Contact: Anne Saul
  8. Sand and repaint picnic tables near shed. Contact: Richard Dorrier
  9.  Help maintain the wheelbarrows, an on-going task throughout the season. Contact: Richard Dorrier
  10. At the end of the season and once the water is turned off, coil hoses up near spigots. Contact: Anne Saul
Project Coordinator Email addresses:
Anne Saul: [email protected]  
Richard Dorrier: [email protected]
Kathryn Long: [email protected]
Eric Keber: [email protected] 
Tracy Friend: [email protected] 
Miriam Hacker: [email protected] 
Brian Cohen: [email protected]

Reporting your volunteer hours

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It's up to each gardener to report their volunteer hours (except for Monitoring and Board meeting attendance as the volunteer coordinator will report participants' hours.)
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Gardeners can report their volunteer time here:
Volunteer Hours Reporting Form


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