COVID-19 Update: Currently, a limited number of volunteers are allowed to work at the garden. If you’re interested in helping out, you must complete our volunteer information and liability forms and document that you agree to follow our Code of Conduct and our Rules for Working at the CCG During the Pandemic before volunteering.
Send completed forms and confirmation that you agree to follow the Code of Conduct and Rules to clorch@unc.edu. To sign up for the workdays, please go to workday signup.
Required Volunteer Forms
- Volunteer Information Form
- UNC Liability Release Form
- Code of Conduct
- Rules for Working at the CCG during the Pandemic
Volunteer Workdays
Currently, our scheduled workdays are Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 3-5 p.m., but you must sign up in advance with Claire at clorch@email.unc.edu before volunteering. Volunteers are welcome to come and leave at any time during the scheduled workday. The garden manager assigns volunteer tasks for each workday.
Who Can Volunteer
UNC staff, faculty, students and community members are all welcome to volunteer with us. Volunteers must be 18 or older or accompanied by a parent or guardian. New to gardening? No problem. Many of our volunteers were new to gardening when they first started.
Typical Volunteer Workday Activities
Want to find out in advance what you’ll be doing at a specific workday? Garden activities are often announced weekly in the CCG e-newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
If you have questions about a task, don’t hesitate to ask experienced volunteers or the garden manager, Claire.
- Building structures for the garden – such as bamboo trellises
- Clearing beds and amending the soil
- Planting seeds and seedlings
- Harvesting produce
- Staking tomatoes and other plants
- Adding leaf mulch to the beds and wood chips to the pathways
- Watering and weeding
- Spraying organic pesticides
- Turning compost
What to Wear
- Mask
- Clothes that can get dirty
- Closed-toe shoes
- Pants or shorts (weather appropriate)
- Sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses on sunny days
What to Bring
- A bottle of water
- Appropriate clothes (see above)
- Bug repellent or clothes to cover your skin during mosquito season
- Feel free to bring garden tools or gloves of your own, but we have plenty available for volunteers to use
- To review the full list of prohibited items, as well as more information on the type of work environment created at the garden, view the CCG Code of Conduct.
Facilities and Parking
- Restrooms: There is no bathroom on site, but we do have access to one close by. However, we do try to minimize those visits during the pandemic.
- Parking: On CCG workdays, you can park in the Nash lot, directly across from the garden site (to the left at the end of Wilson Street). Just to be on the safe side, please put a note in the windshield of your car indicating you are volunteering at the garden.
Weather and Scheduling
We cancel workdays if it starts thundering or if conditions make it difficult to get the work done, but that doesn’t happen very often. We also cancel workdays when the University is closed.
Community Service Options
UNC Employees: With the permission of their supervisor, all permanent UNC Chapel Hill staff working at least 20 hours per week can use Community Service Leave (CSL) for volunteering at the CCG.
Court-Ordered Community Service: Unfortunately, court-ordered community service cannot be earned at the CCG.
Volunteer Groups
We welcome your business, organization, class, community or service group looking for a team-building volunteer activity. Please use the Contact Us button below to schedule a date for your organization to volunteer. Please note that during the pandemic, we are only scheduling groups to come to our Tuesday or Wednesday workdays.
Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Bread
We often bring this delicious and nutritious dessert to tabling events for everyone to sample, and it is always a hit! To learn how to make the bread yourself, download the recipe using this link: Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Bread.
