Urban Edibles Wiki
Seattle

URBAN EDIBLES: SEATTLE

SOURCES

CENTRAL DISTRICT

2311 Olive by 23rd. Rosemary shrubs hanging over sidewalk. Very proper looking landscaping. Could be sketchy if some yuppie walks by.

212 21st by John. Across from park. Many rosemary bushes hanging over wall on house. Is this too sketchy? How big can an herb guy be so that you can grab some? How long the tendrils hanging?

1643 21st Ave. Rosemary hanging over wall. Doesn’t look too hot, but will perk up come spring!

1424 24th Ave by Union. Little lavender bush. Too little to mess with now, but will be in the domain come spring!

1518 24th Ave by Pine. Many bigass lavender bushes!

1527 24th Ave. Lavender and rosemary bushes hanging over wall.

1535 24th Ave and Pine. Lots of rosemary hanging over wall onto sidewalk.

24th and Pine. Roundabout in middle of road. Bigass hearty rosemary bush! City property? Or people property?

1414 21st Ave. Rosemary shrub.

970 21st Ave. Tons of rosemary and lavender bushes.

966 21st Ave. Rosemary hanging down wall. Not that long, but will be!

953 + 954 21st Ave. Rosemary bushes hanging down wall.

LESCHI DISTRICT

Jefferson and 30th. South side of the block. Tons of huge rosemary bushes.

418 30th Ave. Lavender bushes.

Terrace and 30th. HUGE BUTTLOAD of rosemary on east side of the street. Goes down the whole block!

203 30th and Spruce. Rosemary over wall.

OBSERVATIONS

There are lots of rosemary bushes and some lavender in the Central District so far. This is all really deliberate landscaping, and the plants aren’t very big yet. I think this has something to do with gentrification, and the fact that all these houses are being bought up by new rich people that have new ideas for landscaping. The all have been planted fairly recently.

I think Seattle really needs a site like this. There isn’t much in the way of overgrowth of life in the city here (unlike Portland). There is a lot of life though, that is peaking around the trash and cement. I think a project like this up here would make people hopeful and excited.

There was a class Theresa took where they walked around the neighborhood harvesting herbs and greens, and at the end they cooked a meal with what they found! So fantastic! Conan’s roommate forages greens and mushrooms in the neighborhood all the time. He also said when he was brewing his own hard cider last spring he harvested a lot of apples in the neighborhood. Apparently Seattle has TONS of apple trees, a lot of which go wasted with fruits dropping and rotting away on lawns and sidewalks.
—Ashby

REFLECTIONS

As far as a spiritual element, this project is really incredible once I started to participate on a consistent, little by little, daily/bi-daily basis. I have been having a lot of transition inside of me, that has caused me to lose interest in food and not be able to be present. By paying attention to the landscape, I am in a state of concentration and no-think where I’m just cruising. I lose my sense of intensity in my body because I am walking/biking around, and once I found what I’m looking for (rosemary and lavender) it eases my body even more because of their stress-relieving and sweet properties! On top of that I am grabbing bits and pieces as I go. Now I have a big ass stack of lavender and rosemary on my side table and need to do something with it! I going to make delicious food that I prepared myself, and make a therapy pillow (thanks Michael and Manuel for the idea!). My interest in eating has flowered (heh) and I am excited to research and discover more about the things around me that I never considered important (talk about denying the animal!).

Last night I went to a potluck and on the way I found a goldmine of rosemary, so i picked about 7 sticks and smelled them for a long time in the dark. When I got to the dinner I gave the sticks to people and they wore them in their hair and thanked me. Smelling sweet in a group is a wonderful practice! I am going to try this more often.
—Ashby