Marra Farm, a plot of land in Marra-Desimone Park,

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 boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington is one of only two historic agricultural parcels inside Seattle city limits that retains an agricultural use today; the other is

Picardo Farm Picardo Farm is a parcel of property in Wedgwood, Seattle, Washington, consisting largely of 281 plots used for gardening allotments.

.Marra Farm
on the Solid Ground site. Accessed online 16 January 2009. It was operated from the early 1900s until the 1970s as a truck farm by the

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

Marra family, and then sold to King County. Little was done with the land until 1997, when several neighborhood residents and one

VISTA volunteer AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network o ...

began restoration efforts. They were joined the following year by several

nonprofit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, government programs and other individuals. The farm now plays a significant role in providing produce to people living in the largely poor neighborhood of South Park, growing more than of

organic produce Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

each year. In 2000, community organizer John Beal and the King Conservation District daylighted a section of the Lost Fork of Hamm Creek on the western edge of Marra Farm. As of 2008, the farmland is shared among the several member organizations of the Marra Farm Coalition. Lettuce Link, under the aegis of anti-poverty organization Solid Ground; Seattle's

P-Patch A P-Patch is a parcel of property used for gardening; the term is specific to Seattle, Washington. The "P" originally stood for "Picardo", after the family who owned Picardo Farm in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood, part of which became the ori ...

system of

allotment gardens An allotment (British English), or in North America, a community garden, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening or growing food plants, so forming a kitchen garden away from the residence of the user. Such plot ...

;

Seattle Youth Garden Works Tilth Alliance Youth Garden Works, formerly known as Seattle Youth Garden Works, is a non-profit organization in Seattle, Washington, United States. It works with homeless and under-served youth. SYGW was founded in 1995 by Margaret Hauptman. In ...

(SYGW), through which at-risk youths operate a cooperative market garden business, selling their produce at the Columbia City Farmer's Market; Mien Community Garden, tended by low-income Yao Fou Chao and

Mien The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in t ...

who practice their traditional agricultural techniques; and the South Park Neighborhood Association (SPNA). The SPNA provides services including meeting space and

liability insurance Liability insurance (also called third-party insurance) is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser (the "insured") from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the i ...

. Also as of 2008,

Seattle Parks and Recreation Seattle Parks and Recreation (officially the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)) is the government department responsible for maintaining the parks, open spaces, and community centers of the city of Seattle, Washington. The department mainta ...

is in the process of several improvements to the farmland and is rehabilitating land immediately east of the agricultural area. They are establishing trails and paths, play areas, social gathering areas including a community pavilion, and

swale Swale or Swales may refer to: Topography * Swale (landform), a low tract of land ** Bioswale, landform designed to remove silt and pollution ** Swales, found in the formation of Hummocky cross-stratification Geography * River Swale, in North ...

s for drainage.Marra-Desimone Park Pro Parks Project Information
Seattle Parks and Recreation, October 2008. Accessed online 16 January 2009.

Notes

External links

Seattle Parks and Recreation.
Marra Farm
on Solid Ground site {{coord, 47, 31, 18, N, 122, 19, 40, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-WA Parks in Seattle