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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
