Location: North Seattle/Wedgwood
Address: N.E. 82nd St. and N.E. 25th Ave.
Acreage: 2.93
Did you know that the term P-Patch is native to Seattle? And, it doesn’t refer to “pea-patch,” as some people think. The “P” comes from “Picardo,” which is the original Seattle P-Patch.
Seattle used to be filled with large family-run farms. Today, only two of these historic farms remain, giving us a taste of what our city looked like 100 years ago. One is Marra Farm in South Park, and the other is Picardo (Rainie) P-Patch in the Wedgwood neighborhood.
Picardo P-Patch was the first community garden in Seattle. According to an article in the Seattle P-I, Ernesto Picardo and his brothers were Italian farmers who settled in Seattle and farmed a 20-acre area in North Seattle. Rainie was a nickname for one of the Picardo brothers.
Eventually, the Picardo family stopped farming and the land sat vacant. It took a University of Washington student, Darlyn Rundberg Del Boca, to see the possiblity of a community-based garden. She wanted kids to understand where their food came from, so she convinced the city to lease the land for a P-Patch. In the 1970s the city bought the land. If you’re interested in learning more about this history, check out the city’s web site. (Sources: HistoryLink and Seattle.gov)
Today, Seattle has more than 80 community P-Patches located in nearly every neighborhood, where people can rent a small plot of land to plant a garden. The cost is $34-67 per year to rent a space, plus a sign-up fee. And, gardeners have to pledge to use only organic gardening techniques. This program is so popular that there are waiting lists (sometimes years!) to get a plot.
But, many long-time Seattle gardeners say Picardo P-Patch is still the best place to farm due to its rich soil conditions.
Spring is a great time to visit one of Seattle’s P-Patches and see gardeners of all ages bring the soil to life.
#134 (Visited 3/16/10)