Coordinators of a total of 20 community gardening
programs were interviewed, these programs included a
total of 63 gardens. The involvement of garden pro-
gram coordinators with individual gardeners varies, in
part, depending on the number of gardens in a pro-
gram. However, coordinators generally enroll and
inform each garden participant about the rules and or-
ganization of a community garden (e.g. mandatory
participation in a workday), each year of their partici-
pation. Coordinators also may organize the availability
of garden materials (e.g. soil amendments) and or-
ganize and attend cooperative activities. Therefore,
coordinators have multiple opportunities to know and
discuss motivations and program bene®ts as perceived
by gardeners. Furthermore, coordinators routinely
interact with town administrations, who often donate
services (e.g. install a water outlet or provide trash
removal), and neighborhood organizations (e.g.
churches and schools), which may help legitimize a
community garden as a desirable community tradition.
Therefore, coordinators are familiar with local neigh-
borhoods and tend to be aware of community-level ac-
tivities and organizing, which may impact or derive
from each community garden.