Community gardening thrives at Battle Point pea patches

Written by Cathy Nickum

Sunday, 11 January 2009 11:35

Athough Kitsap County is known for its rural character, many of its residents do not have room
for their own vegetable gardens, and with condominiums and scaled-down lifestyles on the rise
in this area, community gardens promise to be one the best ways to insure access to -- and
enjoyment of -- locally-grown food. 

This article is the first in a series that will take a look at community gardens.  Where are they
and who operates them?  Who can participate, what are the rules?  How are community
gardens evolving?

We begin with a tour of the best-known public program on Bainbridge Island, the Pea Patches
at Battle Point Park.  

With 28 people on the waiting list for a Pea Patch plot this year, the Bainbridge Park District's
Battle Point program remains the most well-known and high-profile local community garden. 
Located at the southwest edge of the park's 90 acres, these 35 garden plots offer year-round
activity, color, creativity and entertainment for those who pass by on the park's pathway -- not to
mention the many varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables they provide to the gardeners and
their friends and families on a extended-season basis.

Measuring approximately 15' x 30' (450 square feet), each plot in the Battle Point pea patch
seems to offer its own special character. You may see tomatoes growing in huge tractor tires. 
Other gardeners tend carefully measured rows and neatly divided squares. Still others approach
their plots with the gusto of an painter, splashing colorful flowers across the canvas of their pea
patch plot. Perennials, annuals, fruit trees, and every kind of gardening technique are on display
at Battle Point, and passers-by enjoy not only a visual treat, but often, an educational
experience.

For the park resources of earth, water and path maintenance, Battle Point pea patchers pay $25
a year.  They do their own cultivating and assume the chores involved in keeping their plants
from providing gourmet meals to the local critter population.  Plots are assigned with priority
given to the previous year's participants, and renewal notices are sent early in the year so that
any free space will become available to those on the waiting list on a first-come, first-served
basis.

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Community gardening thrives at Battle Point pea patches

Written by Cathy Nickum

Sunday, 11 January 2009 11:35

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