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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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What to Do in the Seattle Kitchen Garden in Late June
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.
9 hours ago6 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
Medicinal Herbs for the PNW Kitchen Garden & Where to Start
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.
Apr 296 min read
The PNW Gardener's April Checklist and What to Do This Week
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
Apr 278 min read
PNW Winter Kitchen Garden Planning: How to Start the Year Without Overwhelm
A realistic January kickoff for PNW winter kitchen garden planning If January feels confusing, you don’t need to do more - you need a clearer plan. I help PNW gardeners design kitchen gardens that fit real schedules and real seasons. 👉 Book a 1:1 consultation session January is when many people want to start a kitchen garden. Yet, it's also when many get stuck before they ever plant a thing. Seed catalogs arrive in the mail. Instagram feeds fill with thriving garden photos.
Jan 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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