Season’s Greetings from the P-Patch Office
This time of year P-Patch Community Gardens all across the city become still and quiet. The effort to create a new Bitter Lake P-Patch has also been very quiet but I’m happy to report that while quiet, there is still movement towards your vision of a garden. Here’s a quick update of where we’re at and the next steps.
At two community meetings this fall, future P-Patchers and other neighbors weighed in on plans for the new play area and the slightly modified plans for the P-Patch right next to it. With the input gathered at those meetings, Parks Dept. landscape architect Joe Neiford and Parks Staffer Susanne Rockwell have been developing the design further. I’ve been working with them to ensure the new plans work for the P-Patch and doing my best keep the momentum going. I believe the current timeline is to send the project to bid and construction this spring.
In the meantime, there’s a little bit of work for us to do on the P-Patch. In the final schematic you all decided upon there is space for an innovative shed that opens onto both the lower ADA accessible beds and to the upper central gathering area in the garden. We need to figure out the specific details and plans for that shed so it can be incorporated into the overall designs that the Parks Dept is developing now. Daniel Winterbottom is ready to help with that, starting with a working session for all those interested to do some designing together. We’re looking to organize that meeting for early January. Please let me know if you are interested in participating in that.
Watch for a specific meeting announcement in January and hopefully additional updates in the future. You are the most patient group of future-P-Patchers. I’m confident the wonderful garden you’re ready to build will be worth the wait.
Best wishes for a wonderful winter,
Laura Raymond
P-Patch Community Gardening Program | Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
ph 206 615 1787 | fax 206 233 5142
