About Seattle's P-Patch gardens

[Phil Rhoads]

After using GardenJot which Bernita got us started with, I found a garden in Seattle listed

 (http://www.gardenjot.com/garden/view/77/North-side-Picardo-Farm)

and curious about the origins of the P-Patch gardens there.

I found this from Wikipedia:

The city's official web site describes Picardo Farm

 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardo_Farm)

as having "Seattle's best soil…Rich, black, peaty, sucking with moisture in the spring, powdery dry for digging potatoes…[1]

The soil isn't the only thing that has put Picardo Farm on the map:
it's also known for Steve Anderson's 2 1/4-foot-high bronze statue
known as the Picardo Venus: "Pregnant, naked, hair in dreadlocks and
sporting a sparkling nose stud".[7][8] Sitting next to a children's
play area, the statue was originally quite controversial. One P-Patch
gardener remarked of it, "She’s glorifying fertility a little too much
for kids, isn’t she?"[7] Nonetheless, a January 2000 poll of the
Picardo gardeners resulted in a decision to keep the statue.[9]

And I found this from the official Seattle website

 (http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/locations/5.htm):

Size: 98,000 sq ft.

Established: 1973

Number of plots: 281

Average length of waitlist: 104

Average wait: 1 year

Ownership of land: Parks

And I discovered this link:

http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/start.htm

explaining how the city government will help people start new P-Patches:

"Seek land that is vacant, or with run-down buildings or under-used parking lots. Sometimes institutions, such as churches or hospitals, have vacant property. . . ."

Comments?

Phillips Rhoads

6600 Marty St., Overland Park, KS 66202

Home: 913-722-3938 • Mobile: 913-397-9660 • Fax: 913-273-0717

http://groups.google.com/group/rosedale-healthy-kidz/web/guerrilla-gardening-anyone