Palatino Garden Adventures

It is late June in Phinney Ridge, and the garden has done two things at once. Everything that can climb is climbing, and everything that likes to eat a garden has shown up to do exactly that.

Mid-summer in my Phinney Ridge beds. Here is what I am doing in the Seattle kitchen garden in late June, from starting the fall garden to picking blueberries that actually crop.

The hardest part of a kitchen garden is not the watering or the soil. It is deciding what to grow, when, and what follows it. When a garden feels like too much, the problem is almost always a missing plan, not a missing effort. Here is how I think about planning a season so the daily work mostly takes care of itself.

Summer walked into Phinney Ridge after a dry, warm spring. Here is what is actually thriving in my Seattle kitchen garden right now, bed by bed, from the berry beds to the heat lovers.

PNW kitchen garden end of May is the quiet productive week between the tomato push and high summer. A walk through what is actually happening in my Phinney Ridge garden right now: strawberries, the curry plant most people misunderstand, what the bee hotel is doing after the mason bees have finished, eleven herbs in the bed, and the potting soil I keep coming back to.

ate May is when tomatoes finally go outside in the Pacific Northwest. A practical guide to planting them for a real harvest, plus why to grow elderberry, slug control, a watering note, and what is happening at the garden in June.

Mid-May is the real opening of the PNW kitchen garden season. A practical guide to what goes in now, how to feed a mixed berry bed, what to do about slugs, and how to read a fruit tree that looks rough.

Three things are happening at Palatino Garden Adventures this May: a herb planter you can order for Mother's Day, a year-round herb workshop, and a community kitchen garden tour. Here is what each one is, who it is for, and how to sign up.

Most of the medicinal herbs worth growing in the Pacific Northwest are also beautiful, useful in the kitchen, and easy for bees. Here’s where to start if you’re adding this lane for the first time.

April in the PNW kitchen garden has about thirty things you could do, and most online lists pile them on without telling you what actually matters this week. Here are the eight tasks that move the needle right now in Seattle: soil temperature, what to direct sow, what to transplant, what to hold off on (yes, that includes tomatoes), and the fastest way to plan your warm-season layout before May hits. Plus a 5-item to-do list for the week of April 27. Zone 9a, real numbers, no

If your spring planting feels chaotic, the problem started in February. Most gardening guides are written for climates that don't look like Seattle — and none of them answer the question that matters most: how many plants do you actually need? This post covers why PNW garden planning is different, where the yield math fits in, and how to get a clear picture of your season before you're already behind.

People think a medicinal garden is a summer thing. Big calendula blooms in July, lavender drying in August. The truth is it runs all year. Right now in April my calendula is in full bloom, the mint and lemon balm are ready to cut, and the bergamot is sending up new leaves. Here is what I am already harvesting from my Seattle medicinal garden, what is still waking up, and the one plant I am putting in the ground this week for a summer root harvest: Ashwagandha.

I have been hilling every potato I have ever grown, and it turns out half of them did not need it. Here is what I learned about determinate vs. indeterminate varieties and what it means for your PNW garden.

In Germany, where I grew up, gardening was a school subject. We learned how to grow food every year, right alongside math and reading. When I moved to Seattle, I realized most people never learned this basic skill. That's the reason I started Palatino Garden Adventures.

I've written a lot about when to plant and when to wait. This is the hands-on companion: a month-by-month guide to what actually goes into the ground from March through June in Seattle, Zone 8 to 9a. Specific crops, real timing, and lessons from getting it wrong more than once. Plus a link to the PNW Crop Planner Pro for 40+ crops with live planting timelines.

Most kitchen gardens don't fail from neglect. They fail because three decisions got made wrong before anything was planted. Not which seeds to buy or how often to water, but the decisions that determine whether your garden actually fits your kitchen, your schedule, and your climate. Get those right and everything else gets easier. Get them wrong and no amount of effort makes up for it. Here's what they are and how to get them right in the Pacific Northwest.

That warm March afternoon is lying to your garden. The sun is lower, the days are shorter, and your soil is colder than you think. Here's how to read your PNW garden's real sun exposure before you plant a single seed, which crops to start now, and which ones to hold off on until summer.

It's not a hobby. It's a system. Why more Pacific Northwest leaders are growing food - and making better decisions because of it.

March Kitchen Garden Planning: What to Do Before the Season Starts This bed isn't behind. It's waiting for a plan. There's a version of spring gardening that starts with good intentions and ends in a chaotic July. You know how it goes. A warm Saturday arrives in late March or early April, it feels like it's finally time, and you end up at the nursery making decisions based on what looks good in the moment. You come home with a flat of starts, find a spot for them, and feel li

Low-maintenance gardening isn’t about easy plants or shortcuts. It’s about design choices made before anything goes in the ground. Learn how to plan a vegetable garden that fits real life in the PNW.