P-Patch community gardens

Renovation Germinates at Eastlake P-Patch

A part of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation’s Fairview Park at 2900 Fairview Avenue E., the Eastlake P-Patch is a beautiful, intensively farmed garden that is free and open for the public to wander through and enjoy. Along with the steady stream of smiling, strolling visitors, rendered briefly carefree through the power of flowers, the gardeners produce a staggering amount of top quality hyper-local, organic produce for local food banks.

The Eastake P-Patch has often been a stop that is high on the list for delegations from other cities and countries who wish to visit a model community garden. For a photo, historical background, rules, and how to sign up for a garden plot, see the City’s P-Patch web page at http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/programs-and-services/p-patch-community-gardening/p-patch-list/eastlake.

One of Seattle’s earliest, the Eastlake P-Patch started with neighbors reclaiming abandoned and abused public land in the 1980s. Since its beginning, the P-Patch has been built and maintained almost entirely by community volunteers who have heard the call and pitched in when needed to make Eastlake a little better place to live. A minimal city staff sets policy for the 88 P-patches in the city.

Following a community-led expansion that was completed in 2017, Eastlake’s garden now has 50 plots gardened by individuals. After decades of service, the older wood beds had become rotted beyond repair. Thanks to over $20,000 in pledged donations of time and money from concerned neighbors, and a matching grant from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, new wood beds were built, and access was improved by slightly moving some irrigation, paths and plots. All labor and services, including design and construction, came from generous local volunteers.