The only sign announcing Mattapoisett’s community garden are leafy vegetables popping up among the plots of tilled soil.

Located at the corner of Pine Island Road and Prospect Road, the space was previously used by Lucky Fields Organics who had it on loan from owner Florence Martocci. When the farm moved to Rochester, Martocci was keen to allow the area to become a community garden.

For the three years it has been in operation, the garden has averaged around 18 people who grow lettuce, peas, tomatoes and other edible garden staples in their assigned plots.

James Stowe, who organizes the group, said there are few stipulations to joining the garden. “It’s pretty loosely organized as long as people allow me to be dictator,” he joked.

Everyone pays dues to reimburse the owner for water usage, and there are two to three “community clearings” each year to keep the space in order. As for regulations, there aren’t many.

“The rules are that it’s an organic garden, but we don’t police it. Everyone’s pretty good about it,” Stowe said.

At $30 to $80 per plot each season, the garden is an affordable option for people without a yard of their own or who live too close to the sea.

Stowe said the gardeners have a variety of experience, illustrated by a snafu early in the project.

For one empty plot, the group decided to plant community corn, but when they harvested it, Stowe said, “It tasted really lousy. Turns out we planted field corn. We learned that lesson there.”

These days the group is a little more savvy, and while people come and go depending on their schedules, Stowe said there was some exchange of knowledge.

For gardener Ellen Flynn, the garden has been a means to reacquaint herself with her old stomping grounds.

Flynn lived on Pine Island Road several decades ago, but she wasn’t sure if she had time to commit to the garden at first. Stowe convinced her. “He said, ‘you owe it to yourself to have a garden,’” Flynn said.

Three plots later, Flynn agrees and has reconnected with old friends in the area.

“It gives people an outlet they wouldn’t otherwise have,” said Stowe.