Visit
Visitors are welcome at Sunshine Community Gardens! Gates are open seven days a week, generally from 8:00am to dusk.
Stroll through our many gardens, visit the chickens, and observe the many beneficial insects and other wildlife that gather in our urban oasis.
Roads and Parking
Please drive and park your vehicle slowly and courteously—for safety and for keeping the dust down in the gardens. Please observe the limit, and make sure your visitors do so as well.
Limited parking is available on the grounds of the garden, and on weekends you can park outside the gate along the street or in the state parking garage across the street to the northeast. However, you may not park in the lot immediately across from our entrance, which is reserved for the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center (CCRC). That is a residential facility, and CCRC staff members and visitors come and go there seven days a week.
- Speed limit is 3 MPH. (Primarily for safety, but also to keep the dust down.)
- Sunshine’s roads provide access to plots and common areas.
Gardeners should not- park on roads except to unload a heavy
load from vehicle, - drive on roads when wet,
- drive around barriers,
- drive into another gardener’s plot, or
- put plants orother items in the road.
- park on roads except to unload a heavy
- Cars may not be left idling while at the garden.
- Park only in the front parking area or your common area. On
weekends there are parking spaces on Sunshine and 49th Street.
Handbook and Site rules specifically state that PARKING ON GARDEN
ROADS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Park in the parking lot or common
areas only.
Volunteering
Volunteerism is the lifeblood of Sunshine Community Gardens operations, charitable, and educational activities. We welcome both members and non-member volunteers!
More information on volunteer opportunities will be posted soon!
In the meantime, please review our Calendar for workdays and events, or Contact Us to request additional information on how you can assist.
Donate
Community gardens transform empty lots into green, living spaces. They are collaborative projects created by members of the community, who share both the maintenance and rewards of the garden. The simple act of planting a garden can create positive environmental, economic and social impacts for a neighborhood and city.
Click here to donate in support of All Blind Children of Texas, our member Assistance Fund, and/or Sunshine Community Garden operations.
Requesting a Plot
Sunshine Community Gardens is a very popular community garden in Austin, and we welcome new gardeners as space permits.
We maintain over 200 plots, and currently, the waitlist is between 9-15 months, depending on plot size.
We offer five types of plots – full, half, and quarter,size, wheel chair accessible raised beds, and children’s micro plots.
Full, half, and quarter size plots:
- A full plot measures approximately 20′ x 20′ (approximately 400 square feet). The full plot annual fee is $115.00.
- A half plot measures approximately 10′ x 20′ (approximately 200 square feet). The half plot annual fee is $57.50.
- A quarter plot measures approximately 10′ x 10′ or 5′ x 20′ (approximately 100 square feet). The quarter plot annual fee is $45.00.
- Fees are prorated if you join part way through a year.
- New members pay a tool-use fee of $20 in addition to the plot fee when they sign up for membership.
Members with full, half, and quarter plots are required to work service hours as part of their agreement. Full plots carry a commitment of eight hours per six-month season. Half and quarter plots carry a commitment of four hours per six-month season. All plots carry a commitment of one TSBVI hour per season. Regular service hours are prorated for the first season.
Accessible Raised Beds:
The Vernon Barker Memorial Garden has 10 accessible raised beds for gardeners who cannot garden at ground level because of health, age or some type of disability. The area is wheelchair accessible and four are specifically designed for wheelchair bound gardeners. The plots are available at no charge, and there are no required service hours.
Children’s Plots:
The Children’s Garden has 13 plots 3×3 plots available for children ages 5-13. The annual fee for a Children’s plot is $5. The 3×3 beds allow the children to easily reach the center of their beds. The children sign a contract and have an adult sponsor to connect them with their garden bed. They are provided a list of plants acceptable to plant in their plots, child-sized hand tools and washing table, and a picnic bench for rest and rehydration. There are no service hour requirements.
Complete information on membership requirements can be found in the Sunshine Community Gardens Handbook.
If you would like to become a member of Sunshine Community Gardens, don’t wait to get added to the waitlist! For full, half, and quarter size plots, send your request to: scg.plots@gmail.com.
To request a raised accessible bed or children’s micro plot, Contact Us below.
For information about other community gardens in Austin go to:
Coalition of Austin Community Gardens.
Safety and Security
The last person out of the garden at the end of the day must lock the trailer, toolshed, and gate. Please make sure the gate is locked when you exit the garden. Each has a combination lock; ask your zone coordinator for the combination. Remember to mix the numbers on the combination locks after each time you use it.
Report criminal and suspicious activity by calling:
• 9-1-1 for an immediate threat to life or property or a crime in progress
• 3-1-1 is the police non-emergency number for suspicious activity that is not an immediate threat to life or property, or if a crime has occurred and the suspect is gone.
Please report all theft, vandalism, and other incidents to the Community Gardens President and your zone coordinator, so we can track
occurrences.
Community Gardens members and volunteers are not public safety officials and cannot respond to incidents. Any safety response, even for stolen or damaged vegetables, needs to be done with a police report by
gardeners.
Handbook
A great deal of helpful information for garden members is available in the Sunshine Community Garden Handbook.
We are in the process of updating the Handbook. More information will be available soon on the timeline and updates.
Bylaws & Site Rules
Bylaws and Site Rules help us work together as a community and must be adhered to. Gardeners who do not honor these Bylaws and Site Rules may be required to relinquish their garden(s).
The Secretary-Designated Official Versions as of January 28, 2025 can be found below:
Chicken CoOp
The Chicken CoOp is located near the southwest corner of the garden. A small group of SCG members and non-members belong to the chicken co-operative. Contact Us if you are interested in learning more about the chickens or about the co-operative.
You may donate damaged, not rotting, vegetables to the chickens. There is a bucket for donations by the chicken coop door.
