SEATTLE — Supporters of one of the oldest p-patches in Seattle looked to get people’s attention Sunday at the Ballard Farmers Market.
Volunteers with the Ballard P-Patch waved signs and chanted ‘Save Ballard P-Patch,’ along North West Market Street.
“We're just kind of having fun, soliciting support, and making sure more people know what we're up to and up against,” said Ballard P-Patch Leadership Chair Cindy Krueger.
The community garden is located near North West 85th Street, across from Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church. The church owns the land and told the P-Patch this summer it plans to sell the half-acre and use the money for repairs.
Volunteers have been working to raise funds to purchase the land. A donation site for the P-Patch has raised nearly $50,000 so far, but the market price for the land is $1.8 million.
In addition to the donations, Kruger said they’re looking at King County grant funding to help save the P-Patch. Kruger said they plan to apply for grant funding from the parks levy that passed in August, as well as the existing Conservation Futures Funds, which opens its application process in January.
“We're just really working to understand how those levy funds work, what the matches are, and what the time frames are. It's going to be a lot of work moving forward to apply for those monies,” said Krueger.
Volunteers have also been attending city meetings, contacting local and state leaders, and getting people to sign a petition to save the P-Patch. So far more than 3,000 signatures have been collected.
"It’s not just Ballard that cares about this garden, but it’s a city-wide push for open green space and preserving livability throughout the city,” said Krueger.