Picardo Farm is a parcel of property in
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...
,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington, consisting largely of 281 plots used for
gardening allotments.
[Picardo Farm]
P-Patch Community Gardens, City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods web site. Accessed online October 28, 2006. 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.
[Kery Murakami]
Do you know why they're called P-patches?
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', April 29, 2005. Accessed online October 28, 2006. The Picardos' land went beyond the present P-Patch; it also encompassed the property of the adjacent
Reform Jewish
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...
Temple Beth Am and of
University Prep, an independent private co-educational, non-sectarian day school for grades six through twelve. The land was part of what had once been known as the
Ravenna
Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
Swamp.
[Valarie Bunn, "History Bits: Sinking Down on 77th Street", ''Wedgwood Echo'', July 2009, p. 3.]
It is one of two historical farms preserved within Seattle city limits, the other being
Marra Farm in
South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
.
The city's official web site describes Picardo Farm as having "Seattle's best soil… Rich, black,
peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
y, sucking with moisture in the spring, powdery dry for digging potatoes…
[
]
History
Creation
The Picardo family arrived in Seattle in the 1890s from Salza Irpina
Salza Irpina (Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of ...
in the southern Italian province of Avellino
Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.
...
. The three brothers—Ernesto (who became the family patriarch), Orazio, and Sabino—set up farming in South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
along the