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Palatino Garden Adventures
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Three posts that explain how I think about kitchen gardens
Kitchen Garden Planning Is the Hardest Part, Not the Gardening
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.
How I Learned to Grow Food
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.
3 Decisions That Make or Break Your Kitchen Garden
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.
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The Six Seattle Garden Problems Everyone Is Stuck On
I read every booking form from my last two garden tours, and the same Seattle garden problems kept coming back. Tired soil in raised beds, watering once the rain stops, what to do with a bed when the summer crop is finished, growing enough without a yard, what is eating everything, and whether a small city garden returns enough to be worth the trouble. Here is what I tell people about each one.
Sep 37 min read
Seattle August Garden Tasks: Preserve, Cut, Rest, and Compost
Your Seattle August garden tasks come down to four things happening at once. There is still time for the fast fall crops if you direct sow this week. There is a basket of cucumbers, peppers, garlic and onions that needs dealing with today, not on some free weekend that never comes. There are mini bouquets hiding in the bolted lettuce and the kale flowers. And there is a compost pile that has been quietly asking for a turn for about three weeks. Here is how all of it looks in
Aug 119 min read
What to Plant in August for a Seattle Fall Garden
August is the month the kitchen garden asks you to do two things at once, finish the summer and start the Seattle fall garden. Here is what that looked like in my Phinney Ridge beds this week: the brassicas and beets going in for October and November, nine seed companies' worth of packets on the potting bench, the flower bed that is done but not empty, and a three-year elderberry mystery I finally solved by going outside and actually looking. Also the rats, who got every last
Aug 48 min read
From Fall to Winter: How to Transition Your Garden for Year-Round Harvests
Fall gardening is just the beginning of year-round harvests in the Pacific Northwest. Learn how to transition your garden from fall crops into winter greens with the right crops, succession planting, and protective covers. Pair these tips with my Fall Gardening Guide and Winter Kitchen Gardening post to keep your raised beds productive and enjoy fresh vegetables all season long.
Aug 18, 20252 min read
Want more like this? Clear the Noise is my newsletter on cutting through overwhelm with systems thinking and smarter defaults.
Ready to grow with intention this season? Join the Seasonal Planners Circle — a community for Pacific Northwest gardeners who want to plan smarter, harvest more, and never miss a planting window.
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