Garden Helper Project

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Garden Helper Referral Program

While gardening has wonderful therapeutic value, growing one’s own food can be physically demanding, particularly for Elders or those with physical limitations. With a little help with some of the heavy tasks, many people can continue to garden and reap the benefits from both healthy food and physical activity.

Our Garden Helper Referral Program is a referral and matching service. There is NO FEE to Helper or Gardener, as it is our mission to increase community food sovereignty and resilience, promote health through plants, and learning from and with elders.

The service matches graduate interns from our gardening programs with people who need help with their gardens. Elders or any community member needing garden help can call and get a free referral. Weeding, watering, planting, composting, and bed preparation in organic food and herb gardens are the typical tasks for our Garden Helpers. We sincerely hope that people will cooperate in sharing knowledge and increasing inter-generational learning through the use of this program.

Hiring a Helper

You can feel confident when hiring one of our Garden Helpers because they have been pre-screened by Zaniyan, have a demonstrated work ethic, have learned the basics of weeding, gardening, permaculture, and plant identification, and they will show up on time or notify you well in advance if they cannot. Garden Helpers are able to work independently, although each Helper’s knowledge may vary from beginner to advanced.

Garden Helpers charge on a sliding fee scale as a community service. They are not professional landscapers but their fees are much less than traditional landscape companies. Fees are $10-15/hour depending on the job. You can schedule times that best work for everyone, usually in 3-5 hour increments. Payments are made directly to your Garden Helper. Garden Helpers are independent contractors and are responsible for their own taxes and insurance. We can provide a Standard Liability Release form if needed.

Helpers are currently limited to the Eugene/Springfield area, and not all Helpers have cars, so your being on a bus or bike route is helpful. Other than gloves, please provide all tools.  If you use chemicals, or you need power equipment or extensive work done, please use a professional landscaping service.

Want to hire a Garden Helper? Please contact us and we will connect you with someone in your area.