Terms of Service

Welcome to The Garden People (thegardenpeople.life), a mindfulness project created by Maria Allen. By using this site, creating an account, subscribing to Garden Notes, or submitting content, you agree to these terms. They were last updated on May 2, 2026.

We’ve written these in plain language because that’s how the garden works — clearly and honestly. But plain language doesn’t make them less binding. Please read them.

Who Can Use the Site

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account, post comments, or submit content. If you’re between 13 and 16, you may browse the site, but please don’t create an account or post anything. The Garden People is not directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us information, email maria@thegardenpeople.life and we’ll remove it.

Your Account

One account per person. Please use your real email address. You’re responsible for keeping your password safe and for everything that happens under your account. If you think someone else has accessed your account, email us right away at maria@thegardenpeople.life.

We may suspend or close your account at any time, with or without notice, if we believe you’ve violated these terms or for any other reason at our reasonable discretion. You may close your account at any time by emailing us.

Being a Good Garden Neighbor

The Garden People is a reflective, creative community. When you post comments, reactions, or submit your own Garden People, please:

• Be kind and respectful toward others
• Keep things appropriate for all ages
• Don’t post spam, advertisements, or self-promotion
• Don’t post content that is hateful, threatening, harassing, sexually explicit, or violent
• Don’t share anyone else’s personal information
• Don’t post content that infringes anyone else’s copyright, trademark, or other rights
• Don’t impersonate anyone or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or organization
• Don’t attempt to access, scrape, disrupt, or interfere with the site or its users

We reserve the right to remove any content, suspend any account, or close any account at our discretion. The garden is a gentle place — we intend to keep it that way.

Your Content and the Rights You Grant

When you post a comment, leave a reaction, submit a Garden Person, or share any other content on the site (your “Submissions”), copyright in what you create remains with you — that’s how copyright works. But to make this site possible, and to support the broader Garden People project, you grant us specific rights to use what you share.

For comments and reactions: You grant The Garden People (Maria Allen) a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable, transferable license to host, display, reproduce, distribute, and create derivative works of your Submission, solely in connection with operating and promoting the site and the Garden Notes newsletter. This license lasts as long as your Submission is on the site. If you delete your account or your Submission, this license ends, except that we may retain copies for backup, legal compliance, or to preserve the integrity of conversations others have participated in (for example, replies to your comment).

For community Garden Person submissions: Submitting a Garden Person is different from posting a comment, because Maria curates these as part of the broader Garden People project. By submitting a Garden Person — including any photographs, descriptions, names, stories, and other materials — you grant The Garden People (Maria Allen) a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable, transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display your Submission in any media now known or later developed, including:

• The website, social media, and the Garden Notes newsletter
• Books, ebooks, audiobooks, and other publications
• Workshops, retreats, courses, and educational materials
• Physical and digital products (prints, cards, journals, calendars, and similar goods)
• Marketing, promotional, and advertising materials
• Any future Garden People project, product, or extension

You also grant Maria Allen the right to use your name, the name you give your Garden Person, and a brief biographical attribution in connection with these uses. We will make reasonable efforts to credit you when your Submission is used, but we are not required to do so for every use, and credit may be edited for length or context.

You represent and warrant that:

• You created the Submission yourself, or you have all necessary rights to grant the license above
• Your Submission does not infringe anyone’s copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights
• Any people identifiable in your Submission have given you permission to share their image
• Your Submission is truthful and not misleading

If your Submission breaks any of these promises, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from any resulting claims, damages, and costs (including reasonable legal fees). See the Indemnification section below.

Submissions are curated. Submitting a Garden Person doesn’t guarantee it will be published. Maria reviews each one and adds it to the Community Garden when it’s ready. We may also decline to use your Submission for any reason, or stop using it at any time.

No compensation. You are not entitled to any payment, royalty, or other compensation for any use of your Submission, even if Maria uses it in a paid product like a book, workshop, or licensed good.

Our Garden, Our Work

The Garden People brand and trademarks, Maria’s photographs, the Garden People characters and their stories, the site design, and all original content created by Maria Allen or The Garden People are our intellectual property. They are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from this content without our written permission.

You may share links to the site and individual pages on social media — we love that. Just tag us and link back. You may not republish Maria’s photographs, stories, or other content on other sites or in other publications without permission.

Garden Notes Newsletter

When you subscribe to Garden Notes, you’ll receive occasional emails when new Garden People sprout or when Maria has something to share. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email. We use Buttondown to send these emails; their privacy practices are governed by their own privacy policy.

Disclaimers

The site and everything on it is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. We disclaim all warranties, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy. We don’t guarantee that the site will be available, error-free, secure, or that any defects will be corrected.

The Garden People is a creative and mindfulness project. Nothing on the site is medical, mental health, psychological, legal, or professional advice. If you’re struggling with your mental health or facing a crisis, please contact a licensed professional or call a crisis line. In the US, you can dial or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event will Maria Allen, The Garden People, or anyone working with us be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, or loss of goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of the site, your Submissions, or these terms — whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), or any other legal theory, and whether or not we’ve been advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the site or these terms will not exceed one hundred US dollars ($100), or the amount you’ve paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose, whichever is greater.

Some jurisdictions don’t allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some of the above may not apply to you. In those cases, our liability is limited to the smallest amount permitted by applicable law.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Maria Allen, The Garden People, and our affiliates, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your Submissions
• Your use of the site
• Your violation of these terms
• Your violation of any law or any third party’s rights

We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter you would otherwise be required to indemnify, and you agree to cooperate with our defense.

Copyright Complaints

If you believe content on the site infringes your copyright, please email maria@thegardenpeople.life with the following:

• A description of the copyrighted work you claim is being infringed
• The URL or specific location of the allegedly infringing content
• Your contact information (name, address, phone, email)
• A statement that you have a good faith belief the use is not authorized
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner
• Your physical or electronic signature

We respond to valid notices in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). We may also terminate accounts of users who repeatedly infringe copyright.

Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the site, your account, and any Submissions, at any time, for any reason, with or without notice. We may also discontinue the site entirely at any time. If we do, we’ll make reasonable efforts to give subscribers advance notice by email.

Sections of these terms that by their nature should survive termination will survive — including the license you grant in your Submissions, intellectual property terms, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution.

Governing Law and Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut, USA, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these terms or the site will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we’ll update the date at the top. For material changes, we’ll make reasonable efforts to notify account holders and Garden Notes subscribers by email or by a notice on the site before the changes take effect. Continued use of the site after changes means you accept the updated terms.

The Whole Agreement

These terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and The Garden People about the site. They replace any prior agreements.

Questions?

If anything here doesn’t make sense, reach out to maria@thegardenpeople.life. We’re real people, and we’re happy to talk.

See also our Privacy Policy.