Transfer your community garden plot

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Registered gardeners who want to make changes to the location or size of their plot must submit a Transfer Request Form. Transfers are determined by plot availability and program seniority. The deadline to submit a request is December 1. Transfers are processed in December and January each year.

The form will take less than 5 minutes to complete. Requests are processed between December 2 and January 31 each year.

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Types of transfer requests

  • Transfer to a different garden
  • Transfer to a larger plot in your current garden
  • Transfer to a smaller plot in your current garden
  • Transfer to the same size plot in a different area of your current garden
  • Split your existing plot to better match your gardening needs
  • Combine your existing plot with an adjacent plot for a larger area
  • Transfer to an ADA raised bed in a new or current garden due to a disability

If you would like to transfer your plot to a co-gardener or household member, you do not need to complete a Transfer Request Form. Contact program staff at pkcomgard@portlandoregon.gov for assistance. Co-gardeners can only become the primary plot holder if they have been registered as a co-gardener longer than those on the waitlist have been waiting for space at that site. Gardeners may transfer plots into a household member's name at any time. 

Steps to Transfer or Change Your Plot

1. Renew your existing plot

Staff will send out renewal information and payment instructions in the fall. You can submit a transfer request at any time in the season, however, you must pay to renew your current plot in November to be eligible for a transfer. If we are unable to offer you a transfer that meets your needs, and you do not want to continue in your current plot, your renewal fee will be refunded.

2. Fill out the Garden Plot Transfer Request Form

Fill out the form by December 1, to be considered for a transfer or change to your plot. Once you are a assigned a community garden plot, you are removed from the waitlist for all other gardens and the Transfer form is the only way to request a change.

We will contact individuals starting in December via email or mail about their request. Transfers are processed only in December and January each year.

Access the form

3. Maintain your garden plot until your transfer request has been processed

Tips for keeping plots in compliance during the winter months:

  • Garden plots should be weed-free and tidy with mulch.
  • Gardeners should continue to harvest crops, remove dead plant material and maintain all adjacent pathways.
  • Contact your garden manager or the community garden office with questions and updated contact information.

Criteria for granting transfer requests

  • You must be a current gardener and have paid for your current plot. All plot fees paid will be applied to the cost of the new plot if your transfer request is granted. You will be issued a refund or an invoice for the difference in fees, if applicable.
  • Transfer requests are determined by plot availability and your original waitlist date. If you wish to transfer to a garden with a waitlist, your waitlist date must be earlier than that of the first person on the waitlist.
  • If you have received no more than one notice the previous garden season (between November 1 and October 31) and have a plot that is in compliance with our policies and procedures, then you are eligible for transfer to a larger size plot.
  • If the average wait time for a garden plot at a location is more than two years, gardeners will not be able to transfer into garden plots larger than 200 sf.

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