Putting the P in P-Patch

P-Patches launched a modern agricultural movement in the 1970s, sprouting from a small family farm in Wedgwood.

Seattle was once full of farms. But as the city developed, land-use regulation and other forces began to push farmers out. 

One farming family feeling the squeeze in Seattle in the 1970s helped launch a program that has had a profound impact on the city ever since. A piece of their land became the first of what is now a collection of about 90 public urban gardens, or “P-Patches.”

Crosscut’s resident historian Knute Berger dug into this history and what it represents in a recent episode of the Mossback’s Northwest video series, but there is a lot more left to unearth. 

In this episode of Mossback, Berger joins co-host Stephen Hegg to discuss Seattle’s early efforts at farm-to-table living, how the rise of supermarkets and other economic forces almost derailed them, the details of the first P-Patch and what these popular gardens now symbolize in an ever-changing city.

For more on all things Mossback, visit crosscut.com/mossback. To reach Knute Berger directly, drop him a line at knute.berger@crosscut.com. And if you’d like an exclusive weekly newsletter from Knute, where he offers greater insight into his latest historical discoveries, become a Crosscut member today.

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Credits

Hosts: Stephen Hegg, Knute Berger

Producer: Seth Halleran

Story editors: Sara Bernard and Sarah Menzies