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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 Best Week of the Year for Growing Tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest
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.
May 1911 min read
Mid-May in the Pacific Northwest Kitchen Garden: What to Plant, What to Fertilize, and What to Watch For
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.
May 128 min read
My medicinal garden in spring (and what's already feeding the medicine cabinet)
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.
Apr 138 min read
Determinate vs. Indeterminate Potatoes: Why Hilling Might Be Wasting Your Time
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.
Apr 74 min read
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.
Mar 164 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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