New Neigborhood New P-Patch

Our move to West Seattle last fall found us an inconvenient distance from our  P-Patch at Interbay and needing to switch to someplace closer to home. So when we got our new plot assignment we removed our perennials from our Interbay garden, mulched it with a heavy layer of leaves and said our goodbyes. We left a 200 square foot p-patch with access to a greenhouse. Those are the two things I will miss the most about Interbay. As for the garden as a whole and the garden community we never really felt at home there. Not like we did when we were part of a smaller P-Patch, Queen Pea, the first time we lived in Seattle. There is something to say for large P-Patches and the things they can get done. But when it comes to making connections and feeling more a part of a community Mark and I prefer the smaller settings of P-Patches like Queen Pea and our new home - Lincoln P-Patch. There's more of a chance of finding a niche for yourself in the community aspects of keeping up a P-Patch and it is far easier to start recognizing faces and even remembering names when there are fewer gardeners to get to know. That is what we are looking forward to with the move to Lincoln P-Patch. And the location. Lincoln P-Patch is right across from Lincoln Park, one of my favorite parks in West Seattle and one I never think I get to spend enough time in. Hopefully that will change since I'll have already travelled the few miles to the garden I might as well spend some time wandering the various habitats of Lincoln Park. Which is exactly what I did yesterday.

In the afternoon, during a break in the rain, I drove on over to Lincoln P-patch and spent over a half hour wandering the garden, taking pictures, familiarizing myself with the common areas and repeatedly walking back to my own little plot of soil to stand over it and ponder its future.

It is a smaller plot, about 10X11 and built into the side of a hill. Above it is a natural area and Solstice Park.

It's on the west slope of a hill so afternoon sun shouldn't be a problem, although I wonder if the temperatures get very hot due to wind exposure. I'll find out this summer. There are only two other plots in our section, one on either side of ours. Just above our plot is a nice bench that I think will find Mark and I resting, snacking and pondering quite a bit through the garden year.

When finally I had my fill of garden dreaming I was ready to take advantage of being conveniently close to Lincoln Park. I wandered through the forest as mist started to come through the trees and a gentle rain began again. I breathed in the fresh green air, listened to birds chatter, watched squirrels rummage through leaves and dash up trees and kept out of the way of joggers. I considering when I could come back for my own jog through the muddy network of forested trails that is the upper part of Lincoln Park. In the mean time I enjoyed a moderate paced walk and when the trail took me along the bluff I looked out at the waters of Puget Sound and told myself that it was too late in the day to head down to the shoreline part of Lincoln Park. It would have to wait for another day.

So I have hope. For our new garden, for the community it will bring and for the increased frequency of trips to one of West Seattle's many treasures - Lincoln Park