Questions and Answers about the Garden

I was out in the neighborhood today, passing out letters to about 50 of our neighbors and several people had questions about the garden. I thought it might be helpful to put a few of the questions and answers up here so that others can benefit as well.

Q. Who owns the field where the garden will be located?
A. Providence Mount Saint Vincent owns the property.

Q. Do you have permission to start a garden in the field?
A. Yes! We have been in contact with Providence Mount Saint Vincent and they have agreed to our using part of the field to start a community garden. They are letting us use the property for free in order to grow food and flowers for our own use. There is an agreement of use waiver that every gardener will need to sign in order to use the property for gardening.

Q. How much of the field will be used for gardening?
A. Our initial plan is to begin gardening in a small portion of the field (approximately 1/8th of the area inside the fence). This will allow for space of up to about 10 gardeners. If there is considerable interest from neighbors, we will look at options for enlarging the space up to the size of a quarter of the field. We know that a lot of people in the neighborhood use this field and we would like to maintain a significant open area in order to allow for other uses of the space (Our agreement with Providence Mount Saint Vincent only covers the use of space for gardening, and we are not allowed to grant permission for other uses of the space. That said, we know the open space is appreciated by many, and we hope to enhance the space, in all its uses, for the enjoyment of everyone).

Q. What about the soil?
A. We have sent soil samples to be tested, especially since we are in an area with higher risk of lead and arsenic contamination from the Tacoma Smelter. We plan on building raised beds, and if the soil is contaminated, then we will work to make sure that there is a good depth of safe soil to grow food in.

Q. Is this a City of Seattle P-Patch?
A. No. While the site has been recommended in the past to the P-Patch office, it is not currently one of the sites listed for development as a P-Patch in their current plans.

Q. Since a lot of people use the field to play with pets, how will you keep animals out of the garden?
A. We will work with the pet owners who use the field to develop solutions if this becomes a problem. We believe that by having raised beds and laying down mulch between the beds, the space will be defined well enough that people playing in the field with their pets should have little trouble keeping their pets out of the beds.

Q. When is the meeting? And what if I cannot come?
A. The first meeting will be on Saturday, April 30th at 3pm. We will meet in the field. If it is raining we will meet across the street on the first floor of the brown apartment building. The Information from the meeting will be posted here on the blog within a couple of days after the meeting.