Happening now: “Clean and Green” at new West Seattle P-Patch

| Environment | Gardening | West Seattle news

After the speeches and before the digging, there was of course a group photo op for everybody who showed up at the start of this morning’s city-sponsored Clean and Green event at the new Genesee P-Patch on a Junction site donated by West Seattle Christian Church. Right after the photo op, it was time to start digging into a mountain of donated Cedar Grove compost — which is made from the yard waste you put out every week – Mayor Nickels (who volunteered today along with wife Sharon Nickels) talked shovel-turning strategy with Aaron Hernandez, the almost-unsung hero who hatched the idea for the P-Patch:

Lots more coverage to add later – including the awarding of certificates to the 10 applicants (many of whom had been on a long waiting list) who are receiving P-Patch plots. If you’re still on the waiting list, no worries – as we’ve reported previously, at least three other West Seattle P-Patches are in the works, thanks to funding from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy passed by voters last year – including the 34th/Barton site east of the Exxon/Propel station. And if you see this story before 1 pm, you can still go grab a shovel and get involved, or join up with the folks you may see picking up trash along 40th, 41st and 42nd between Dakota and Hudson, as part of the Junction Neighborhood Organization Adopt-A-Street cleanup being held concurrently with today’s Clean and Green.

wseye June 20, 2009 (11:35 am)

Mr. Mayor and another photo op… can’t we just stick to the people who did all the hard work? His constant self-promotion using our community efforts and tax dollars is getting really old.

Heather June 20, 2009 (12:33 pm)

Actually, the mayor did more than pose for pictures. I was one of the volunteers at this project, and he was working hard along side everyone else. Yes, he is a politician, so yes, he likes photo ops. But give him a little credit for also caring about his city.

Lisa K June 20, 2009 (12:49 pm)

Aaron Hernandez is a lovely soul–met him during harvests for Community Harvest of SW Seattle. Doing such great work tackling issues of hunger, etc. in a community-based and community-building way. He is a humble, accessible, “everyday” guy just getting out there and getting it done…Certain elected officials could take a few lessons from him!

WSB June 20, 2009 (1:09 pm)

We did note in the copy above that the Nickels’es actually did volunteer, and we hung around for a while after the speechifying to get action shots, but for this first story we wanted to use the one with the mayor and Aaron, who deserves kudos (and tried hard to stay out of the spotlight today – Lisa’s word, “humble,” certainly applies) … TR

JBL June 20, 2009 (1:12 pm)

Just got back from helping Aaron and all the other volunteers pushing over 65 cubic yards of nice & ripe compost. There’s still lots of work to do. I want to thank Aaron and everyone for helping out. We moved a lot of dirt and my body is sore. I can’t wait until we finish and I can start planting in my plot!

Jennifer M June 20, 2009 (1:30 pm)

I am one of the 10 people who will have a plot at the new p-patch. It meant a lot to me to have the mayor out there. I appreciate that he took time to recognize and acknowledge those who donated time, materials, sweat and the land. It minimizes the event by chalking it up as just a photo-op. Having him there representing the city of Seattle made it special and I thought he was heartfelt. Thanks Aaron for all your hard work and West Seattle Christian Church for making it possible.

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