View source for Picardo Farm

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
[[Image:Picardo Farm Seattle.JPG|thumb|350px|Picardo Farm community garden with the buildings of [[University Prep]] in the background.]]

'''Picardo Farm''' is a {{convert|98000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} parcel of property in [[Wedgwood, Seattle, Washington|Wedgwood]], [[Seattle]], Washington, consisting largely of 281 plots used for [[Allotment (gardening)|gardening allotments]].<ref name=official>[http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/locations/5.htm Picardo Farm], P-Patch Community Gardens, City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods web site. Accessed online October 28, 2006.</ref> It is the original [[P-Patch]] (the local term for such community gardens): the "P" originally stood for "Picardo", after the family who owned it.<ref name=Murakami>Kery Murakami, [http://www.seattlepi.com/local/222189_vsecondary29.html Do you know why they're called P-patches?], ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', April 29, 2005. Accessed online October 28, 2006.</ref> The Picardos' land went beyond the present P-Patch; it also encompassed the property of the adjacent [[Reform Judaism|Reform Jewish]] Temple Beth Am and of [[University Prep]], an independent private co-educational, non-sectarian day school for grades six through twelve.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} The land was part of what had once been known as the '''[[Ravenna, Seattle, Washington|Ravenna]] Swamp'''.<ref name="Bunn-2">Valarie Bunn, "History Bits: Sinking Down on 77th Street", ''Wedgwood Echo'', July 2009, p. 3.</ref>

It is one of two historical farms preserved within Seattle city limits, the other being [[Marra Farm]] in [[South Park, Seattle, Washington|South Park]].<ref>Athima Chansanchai, [http://www.seattlepi.com/local/226993_marra03.html?searchpagefrom=2&searchdiff=3 Marra Farm plants seeds for South Park community], ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', June 3, 2005. Accessed online October 28, 2006.</ref>
The city's official web site describes Picardo Farm as having "Seattle's best soil… Rich, black, [[peat]]y, sucking with moisture in the spring, powdery dry for digging potatoes…<ref name=official/>

==History==

===Creation===
[[Image:Picardo Farm 13.jpg|thumb|250 px|right|Barn and shelter, Picardo Farm]]
The Picardo family arrived in Seattle in the 1890s from [[Salza Irpina]] in the southern Italian province of [[Avellino]]. The three brothers—Ernesto (who became the family patriarch), Orazio, and Sabino—set up farming in [[South Park, Seattle, Washington|South Park]] along the [[Duwamish River]].<ref name=Bunn>Valarie Bunn, "History Bits: Wedgwood's In-City Farm", ''Wedgwood Echo'', May 2009, p. 3.</ref>

In 1922 they swapped a house in South Park for a piece of land that had been part of what was known as the "Ravenna Swamp".<ref name=Bunn /> The family farmed the {{convert|20|acre|m2}} at 25th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 80th Street from the 1920s to about 1962 or '63.<ref name=Murakami/> Architect [[Victor Steinbrueck]], writing in 1962, called it "an unusual reminder of the past" and praised its old barn (now demolished) as "a simple example of the anonymous architecture that has always been part of the local scene."<ref>Victor Steinbrueck, ''Seattle Cityscape'', University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1962, p.141</ref> Rainie Picardo leased out plots for a few more years, and then the city bought the land.<ref name=Murakami/>

===Ravenna Swamp===

The peaty soil was ideal for farming but was poorly suited for buildings. Some small houses were built along 25th Avenue just south of Picardo Farm and were effectively floating on the peat bog. When the city installed sewer lines along 25th Avenue, the water table sank and houses began to slide off of their foundations. The city eventually purchased these lots to build the Dahl Playfield. At least one of the houses was moved to a new site.<ref name="Bunn-2" />

===Venus statue controversy===
[[Image:Picardo Venus 05.jpg|thumb|150px|The Picardo Venus]]

Thr Picardo Farm was also known for Steve Anderson's 2{{fraction|1|4}}-foot-high [[bronze]] statue known as the Picardo [[Venus (goddess)|Venus]]: "Pregnant, naked, hair in [[dreadlocks]] and sporting a sparkling [[nose stud]]".<ref name=Klass>Tim Klass (Associated Press), [http://www.lmtonline.com/news/archive/1021/pagea7.pdf Garden community aflame over Venus], ''Laredo Morning Times'' (Laredo, Texas), October 21, 1999, p. 7A. Accessed online October 28, 2006.</ref><ref>Steve Anderson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20001209130800/http://www.speakeasy.org/~docschlk/statue.htm The Picardo Venus], originally on the personal web site of Larry Nielson, Picardo Farm P-Patch Art Committee Chair; archived Dec 9, 2000 on the [[Internet Archive]].</ref> The statue attracted criticism due to its placement next to a children's play area. One P-Patch gardener remarked of it, "She's glorifying fertility a little too much for kids, isn't she?"<ref name=Klass/> Nonetheless, a January 2000 poll of the Picardo gardeners resulted in a decision to keep the statue.<ref>Larry Nielson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20001017232153/http://www.speakeasy.org/~docschlk/controv.htm The Picardo Venus Controversy], originally on the personal web site of Larry Nielson, Picardo Farm P-Patch Art Committee Chair; archived Dec 9, 2000 on the [[Internet Archive]].</ref><ref>[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20000125/4001328/p-patchs-bronze-venus-to-stay P-Patch's bronze Venus to stay] Tuesday, January 25, 2000 By Joshua Robin Seattle Times staff reporter</ref>

==Amenities==
From late 2009 to early 2010 a Clivus Multrum composting toilet system was installed on the NE portion of the farm.

<gallery>
Picardo Farm 14.jpg|Flowers, Picardo Farm
Picardo Farm 22A.jpg|Gardening at Picardo Farm
PPatch Seattle.JPG
PPatch.JPG
</gallery>

==See also==
*{{portal-inline|Gardening}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/locations/5.htm Official site], as part of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
* [https://www.picardofarmppatch.com/ Picardo Farm P-Patch website]
* [http://gogoweb.com/anderson/ Sculptor Steve Anderson's web site]

{{Wedgwood, Seattle}}
{{Protected areas of Seattle}}
{{coord|47.68766|N|122.30048|W|source:placeopedia|display=title}}

[[Category:Community gardening in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Parks in Seattle]]
[[Category:Wedgwood, Seattle]]
[[Category:1922 establishments in Washington (state)]]