Located in every quadrant of the city, Seattle’s P-Patch community gardens are not only part of a beloved citywide program but also one of the oldest community gardening programs in the country. This year the P-Patch program celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Launched in 1973 as part of the national back-to-the-earth movement, the P-Patch program began with a single plot. Within a year, there were 10. Today, those numbers have grown to 91 community gardens – an astonishing 33 total acres — with more than 3,600 people actively tending a garden. In 2021, it was the fifth-largest community gardening program in the country by density (per 1,000 residents).
How did this exemplary program start? It was all thanks to Ernesto Picardo — the P in “P-Patch.” At the turn of the 20th century, Picardo left his tiny village of Salza Irpina in Campania bound for America. At first, he thought he might participate in the Klondike Gold Rush, but instead ended up in the Northwest and turned to farming. Before long, his two younger brothers, Sabino and Orazio, joined him.
By 1922, the Picardo’s were farming land in South Park along the Duwamish River. A few years later, they swapped their house in South Park for a plot in Seattle’s “far north,” today known as Wedgwood. Back then it was called the Ravenna swamp.
The brothers sold the vegetables they produced to small grocery stores in the area and delivered them to the produce stands at Pike Place Market. After World War II, the next generation of Picardo’s was not as interested in farming. Bit by bit, the family started to sell off small parcels of land. They retained about 20 acres, however, and continued to grow vegetables.
In 1973, a neighbor of the Picardo’s, Darlyn Rundberg, approached the Picardo family and asked if she could use a small portion of their farm for a community garden. Rundberg was inspired by events like Earth Day, which had started in 1970 as a way to raise awareness about the environment and the need to protect the planet for future generations. This was also the time of the “Boeing bust” when many families were economically affected by massive Boeing lay-offs.
When the Picardo’s agreed, Rundberg recruited students and families from nearby Wedgwood Elementary School to work the soil and plant food crops. During the first two years, Puget Consumers Co-op (now known as PCC Community Markets) ran the Wedgwood garden. It was such a success that city officials took note. Seattle decided to acquire the farm and start its own community gardening program. Although it took months to work out the legal logistics, by 1974, after a trial period, the P-Patch program was born.
The program thrived during its first decade, and those lucky enough to have a P-Patch garden quickly set down roots. They installed water systems, tool sheds, and fences. Some neighborhoods went further and beautified their sites with outdoor sculpture, mosaic tiles, and decorative benches. The program might have continued quietly as a popular local option, but two things happened in the 1980s. Four P-Patch sites won national community gardening awards, which put them on the national radar. Then in 1987, Seattle hosted the national conference of the American Community Gardening Association which attracted participants from around the country. Conference attendees were wowed by the P-Patch gardens, by now proliferating throughout the city. After the conference ended, they enthusiastically reported back to their own communities and before long, community gardens were sprouting up from coast-to-coast.
Over the years, each P-Patch has taken on its own distinct character. Some have picnic tables and benches where visitors can relax and enjoy a bite. Others have a garden area just for children, while still others use raised beds so older residents or those with disabilities can participate. Gardens in Asian American or Hispanic communities might grow the specific herbs and vegetables needed for those cuisines. Education workshops are often held.
P-Patches are open to all, there are no locks or gates. People can stroll through the gardens, admire the colorful flowers, and marvel at the range of vegetables and herbs growing. Most P-Patch gardeners are happy to stop and chat, sharing advice or answering questions. Of course, it goes without saying that picking the vegetables or flowers is not allowed.
These days the program is run by the city’s Department of Neighborhoods with an annual budget from the city’s general fund. Its goals remain the same five decades later: promote environmental stewardship, build community, and develop self-reliance.
Throughout the recession and then the pandemic, P-Patch gardeners supplied produce and herbs to food banks and hot-meal programs in the area. In 2022 alone, gardeners contributed 44,000 pounds of food used to ease the lives of individuals experiencing food insecurity.
Although the P-Patch program is firmly rooted and recognized nationally as a model community gardening program, the escalating population and development boom that Seattle is experiencing has introduced new challenges. But whatever the future holds, one thing remains true: the love, respect, and passion for the land so important to the Picardo family have been carried on for 50 years through the small urban oases known as the P-Patch gardens.
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