P-Patch Community Gardens

University Heights

Center for the Community

The fastest P-Patch ever built is at the University Heights Center for the Community. A sign on the fence lured in volunteers and they arrived at the same time as the load of supplies: lumber for raised beds and cardboard to go under the wood chipped paths. The site was quickly cleared and by the end of the first day each member of the construction crew took a rest in an empty kid-sized raised bed. Six beds with six tired bodies; we did make a funny site, almost as if we'd found our final resting spots! Week two saw construction of the larger raised beds and arrival of leaf compost, top soil, organic soil amendments and three mountains of wood chips. It seemed as if everything came in ten yard loads. Ten yards can fill a lot of wheelbarrows, many times too! Anxious gardeners planted even before the fence was finished. The gate with the yellow sunburst rays was the final touch at the Patchworks!

University Heights P-Patch, is located in the heavily urban U District neighborhood and serves a diverse population. Gardeners share the garden with three elementary schools, a neighborhood food bank and Seattle Youth Garden Works. This garden was initially constructed in the corner of an underutilized playground and has expanded in 1995 and 2002. The garden now includes a unique rain water recycling system built by gardeners and the University of Washington Landscape Architect, Industrial Design, and Art students in a collaboration design build project in 2002.