Judkins

The Tradition of Marbles
(submitted by a Judkins P-Patch gardener)

It was a six; not on the scale from one to ten, but on the number of truckloads of "stuff" hauled away before ground level appeared. There were all kinds of treasures hiding under the blackberries: overstuffed couches, "Norman" the blue plastic horse, and marbles. The couches went directly to the dump. Norman took up residency with an office plant. And the marbles rolled around on the P-Patchers' car dashboards.

Gardeners moved into Judkins. Pink Cleome tutus danced in the breeze above chunks of concrete. Rocks bred like rabbits. Judkins lived as a garden of contrasts. Lovingly tended plots snuggled up to the encroaching blackberries; rocks enclosed areas of sifted soil, and flowers shared the limelight with vegetables.

The gardeners continue to discover marbles sparkling in the soil, winking cat's eyes and aggies telling stories of the past. "This land belonged to others, and it will belong to others again. New gardeners will take your place and dream of future harvests." At Judkins P-Patch the fragile thread of a community garden has been strongly woven into the site and will continue to surface as reliably as the marbles from this and other garden sites. Marbles, the cobalt blue threads to the past and the future.

With the help of Work Readiness Arts Program the garden has a new shed, check out the great shed project images.

Judkins has a lot of natural habitat, including an all natives planting in the parking strip. There's a small pond, wetland habitat as well. The borders are planted richly with additional northwest natives and beneficial flowers and herbs. Judkins is rare in that it's permanently preserved for community gardening!

Visit the Judkins P-Patch Facebook page for updates.