Greening the Dark Season: P-Patches Provide Plant Power Near You

Garden nestled in the cityscape

The Evergreen Echo

Now that we have finally left behind a dreadfully hot summer, gardeners all over the Puget Sound will be adding a layer of mulch to their soil and taking delicate plants indoors, while others, like me, will be keeping a careful eye on their indoor plants and making sure the heater is set low. Although we are about to move out of the ripening season for many of our beloved local Washington fruit (sweet Honeycrisp apple, how I will miss you!), that doesn’t mean that the Evergreen State’s farms and gardens will be empty or that there won’t be any gardening opportunities ahead for all of you green thumbs! If you’re hoping to keep your head in the gardening game, you need not look further than your own neighborhood.  

Enter P-Patches, a collection of 91 community gardens spread across Seattle, from Ballard to Rainier Vista. Totaling nearly 35 acres, P-Patches are expansive and important local ecological sites. These plots are run by the community for the community, with organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers, all lovingly gardened and weeded by hand by a plethora of volunteers, each with their own plot of plants. To find a P-Patch near you, you can use the Seattle Department of Neighborhood’s interactive map. While the size and age of patches can vary, you can be sure to find a thriving garden in any location.  

Now to answer the question on everyone’s mind: What does the P in P-Patch even stand for anyway? 

Garden plot in a P-Patch in U District

The Evergreen Echo

While you may be tempted, as I was, to think that the P might stand for Plant or Public, the history behind the name actually runs much deeper. The P-Patch project began in 1973 during a national Back-to-the-Earth movement. Rallied by the movement, Darlyn Rundberg, a member of the Puget Consumers Co-op, went to her neighbors in search of a place to begin a community garden. Her search led her to the Picardos, a family of truck farmers (farmers who grow produce for markets) who leased part of their farm to support her mission. After launching a successful community garden with Rundberg’s guidance and vision, the Picardo family eventually sold the rest of their farming land to the City of Seattle, and the P-Patch program began in earnest. The P in P-Patch nods to the generous donation of this family, standing for Picardo. The P-Patch project has continued to thrive in Seattle neighborhoods, and the Picardos’ and Rundberg’s legacy lives on. 

P-Patches are a great way to engage with your hobbies and tend to the planet in new ways, and it’s also a good way to find community and meet new people. The P-Patch program, and the larger Seattle Department of Neighborhoods under which it runs, hosts events across various Seattle neighborhoods. These events include Buddy Walks, Youth Groups, and even Threads, a show produced by Seattle’s circus arts center, Acrobatic Conundrum. For more information on upcoming events (P-Patch related and otherwise), the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods offers a weekly newsletter that highlights upcoming social gatherings. 

Community Garden guidelines posted on a P-Patch fence

The Evergreen Echo

Beyond offering a place for gardeners to meet and tend to their plants, P-Patches also give back to the community in other ways. The patches promote civic engagement, eco-friendly practices, cross-cultural communication, and ethical gardening techniques. Patches do not allow the use of synthetical chemicals found in pesticides and insecticides. They are also smoke-free and compost-free, meaning that the only smells you have to worry about are from the beautiful flowers. By growing fresh fruits and vegetables, P-Patches help feed the community, providing organic food that is well-maintained by the public. P-Patches also preserve heirloom vegetables, flowers, and herbs and provide spaces for Indigenous communities to take care of culturally significant plants. 

P-Patches, on top of everything else, keep Seattle clean and beautiful, creating a place to connect to nature, even in denser parts of the city. At my local P-Patch in the University District, flowers are grown abundantly among adorable little vegetables like tomatoes and pumpkins. You can see the love and care put into each section of the garden, and the plants grow strong and tall. These spaces are gorgeous and green, with walkable pathways and dozens of little easter eggs for a keen eye, including painted rocks and dazzling stained-glass garden fixtures. A walk through the P-Patch can feel like a breath of fresh air after a long day of navigating our usual concrete jungle. 

If you’re looking for a new place to stretch your green thumb (or, like me, just trying to keep a plant alive for longer than a week or two), P-Patches have got you covered. Offering sustainable practices, community events, and a relaxing place to enjoy nature, P-Patches really do it all.