Our Garden is Many Things to Many People
We are one part school garden, one part community garden, and one part botanical garden.
It is all brought together by hard working volunteers and community support.
Overall, we are a teaching garden where all can come to learn.
The New Start Community Garden (formerly Shark Garden) is part botanical garden and we have a wide variety of specialty gardens to help teach visitors and students about the environment and growing food. Our botanical collections focus on edible plants and habitat for pollinators and wildlife.
VOLUNTEERING
Regular volunteer sessions will return in March with Wednesday and Friday mornings as our core days.
Volunteering supports food bank harvests, garden maintenance, and fundraising events.
Thursday evenings will be added in late spring to support working in our Pollinator Garden beds up front.
We’re hoping to also be doing some more plant propagation this season if you’re interested in that.
We are currently looking for a special volunteer to help us set up an Amazon shop where we can post our favorite tools, ingredients, and books for you guys to find. If you’re a computer person, we have detailed instructions on how to do it and we could use your help! 😊
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday April 4th 1:30 – 3 PM – Volunteer Orientation
Interested in joining us as a volunteer this season? Join us for a volunteer orientation! Returning volunteers are also encouraged to join to get updates on this year’s projects. No registration required. Bring your friends!
Wed. April 22nd – Earth Day Volunteer Work Party 10 – 1 PM
Drop in and join us! We’ll be working on a variety of projects. No experience needed, just sign in when you arrive. We have all the gloves and tools needed. Bring a water bottle.
Saturday, April 25th Noon–3:00 PM – Spring Open House
Our Spring Open House includes a fundraiser sale, spring vegetable starts, and tables hosted by partner organizations. We will also be doing free instant soil tests with the Dept. of Ecology. We’ll have lots of tasty treats, spring veggie starts, gift ideas, and more! Join us to kick off the season! As always, volunteers get to shop first! 😊
Saturday, May 30th 10:00 AM–4:00 PM – Burien Garden Tour & Plant Sale
We’re excited to confirm that we’ll host the starting point for the Burien Garden Tour this year. We’ll also have a veggie plant sale open to everyone, live music, and partner organizations in the garden that day. We’re going to showcase nine local Burien gardens on the tour and we’ll also have a photography contest during the tour.
Get tickets here (only 300 available):
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/burien-garden-tour
Volunteers are also needed for the Garden Tour. Volunteers who help for half a day receive a free tour ticket to use in the other half of the day. Morning shift begins at 8:30 AM and afternoon shift begins at noon.
UPCOMING CLASSES
- Saturday April 11th – Plant Propagation 101 with Taryn Koerker (if none of our other speakers want this date)
- Thursday April 30th – Understanding Soil Health with KCD – 5:30 PM
- Saturday May 9th – Thinning & Netting Fruit Trees with City Fruit – 1 PM
- Saturday June 6th – Pruning Class with Plant Amnesty – details TBD
- Saturday June 13th – Native Plants & Drought Tolerance with Peggy Campbell – 10 AM
- Saturday June 20th – Pollinator BioBlitz – 10 AM–2 PM – details TBD
- Saturday June 27th – Washington Bonsai Swap Meet – 10 AM–3 PM
More information and registration details for upcoming classes will be shared once schedules are finalized.
Learn more about Shark Garden at
https://www.sharkgarden.org/mission