actually this is a slightly better fix

spec/views/gardens/new.html.haml_spec.rb

@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ require 'spec_helper'
 describe "gardens/new" do
   before(:each) do
     @member = FactoryGirl.create(:member)
-    controller.stub(:current_member) { @member }
+    sign_in @member
+    controller.stub(:current_user) { @member }
     @garden = FactoryGirl.create(:garden, :owner => @member)
     assign(:garden, @garden)
     render