Blog - Patio Produce

The Healing Power Of Gardening

Life can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re focused on recovering your health and getting back to feeling your best. That’s why I want to

How to Dry, Store, and Use Your Homegrown Remedies

There’s something so fulfilling about growing your own herbs, isn’t there? Not only do they add incredible flavor to your meals, but they also come

The Power of Compost: Enrich Your Soil and Your Health

If you’ve been thinking about ways to boost your garden’s productivity while also nurturing your own health, let me introduce you to one of the most powerful

The Best Fall veggies and herbs to Boost Your Well-Being

There’s something so empowering about growing your own food—especially when that food helps you feel healthier and more vibrant with every bite. Let’s dive into

How to power your health with fall garden harvests 🍂

If you’re looking to nourish your body and soul as you continue on your path to better health, planning a fall garden is just what

4 Chicago Gardening Heat Hacks

This summer has been one of the hottest (and wettest) that I can remember… and if your garden is feeling the heat, know that you’re

Myth: You Need a Big Garden to be a Great Gardener

In the world of gardening (and Instagram), we so often see pictures of massive gardens with more raised beds than we can count. And harvests?

What Seeds to Start, What to Direct Sow, and What to Buy From a Nursery

The age old question! Every gardener finds their own balance here, but there are a few general rules that can help you strike the perfect

Read This Before You Buy Seeds

January is the season of the glossy, gorgeous seed catalogues! Every gardener loves receiving them in the mail. It’s hard not to love looking at

A Fresh Midcentury Modern Twist with Native Landscaping

Sometimes, I get to add gardens to landscapes that have been lovingly tended for years. It’s such a fun challenge to design a garden that

A New Kitchen Garden Paradise for Non-Profit Northwest Compass

My favorite days in the garden are the ones when I get to garden with other gardeners! This installation was so much fun and even

A Glorious Garden Party

Near the end of each growing season, I throw a Garden Party for my wonderful client gardeners and everyone who helped me grow my business

How to Plant a Fall Garden

Fall gardens are one of the most rewarding gardens that you can plant. I love the time of the year where the weather shifts from

Creating Space For Yourself in a Kitchen Garden

Can we all agree that life is ridiculously busy? Sometimes it feels like we’re always multitasking, on the go, trying to fit more into our

A Kitchen Garden Pairs Perfectly With a She Shed

Sometimes necessary parts of our landscapes, like sheds, can look a bit out of place. How do you fix that? Add a garden! Your shed

How to Make a Big Impact with a Small Garden

Have you ever been frustrated that you only have a small space to garden? Or frustrated that you have an awkward corner of your yard

3 Tips to Make Planting Your Garden Easy

How often have you walked out to your garden for the first time all year on Mother’s Day weekend and been absolutely overwhelmed by all

Seed Starting Mistakes to Avoid

It’s here! Seed starting time! Every Chicago winter feels a bit endless. But for us gardeners, there are a few early glimpses of warmer days

Making Seed Ordering Simple

I love looking through seed catalogues. I can’t think of a gardener who doesn’t! Each January, beautiful, glossy seed catalogues start appearing in your mailbox

5 Garden-Centered Resolutions

With snow on the ground, it’s tough to imagine the beautiful, warm summer mornings in the garden. You know the mornings I mean: the ones

Three Ways to Keep Your Salad Garden Going Through December

Don’t you love the simplicity of fall? A few frosts mean the end of your tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and flowers. With those plants gone, gardening

How Your Garden Can Help You Have a Zero-Waste Halloween

Americans spent about $10.14 Billion on all-things Halloween in 2021, which is a terrifying $100 per person! And unfortunately, we know a lot of that

Three Steps for Fall Veggie Garden Clean Up

Do you look at your garden in the fall, and realize that while you should clean it up, you just don’t have energy to do

What No One Told You About Growing Garlic

Garlic is RIDICULOUSLY easy to grow. Seriously. Here’s how: Step 1: Buy garlic bulbs Step 2: Break garlic bulbs apart into cloves and plant them

How to Keep Harvesting Tomatoes Through Frost

When you think of vegetable gardening, what does your mind immediately jump to? Growing tomatoes, if you’re like most Americans. Somewhere along the way we’ve

Succession Planting: What I Planted in My Garden in August

If you’re the kind of person who plants your garden on one day in May and doesn’t plant anything else the rest of the year,

Tricks to Harvest and Cure Garlic

Garlic is one of the most fascinating veggies to me. No other vegetable demands being put in the ground in the last moment the ground

Two Quick Tips for Tomato Harvesting

It’s tomato season and I hope you’re enjoying your big, gorgeous tomatoes on sandwiches, salads, and (my favorite) caprese salad. Harvesting tomatoes may sound pretty

Solving Garden Problems: Japanese Beetles

There’s nothing like stepping out into your garden on a warm summer morning with a cup of coffee and admiring your beautiful garden. You glance

The Value of Succession Planting (+ What I Planted in My Garden in July)

If you’re the kind of person who plants your garden on one day in May and doesn’t plant anything else the rest of the year,

Help Your Garden Thrive While You’re On Vacation

We all need a break sometimes. Vacations give us a chance to get out of our normal routines, experience new thoughts and ways of life,

When to Wave the White Flag (or, When to Pull a Plant From Your Garden)

In an ideal gardening world, you will get a beautiful, huge harvest from every plant you put in your garden. But you know that ideal

How to Help Your Salad Garden Thrive During the Summer Heat

Salad gardens are one of my favorite types of gardens to grow. To me, there are few things more rewarding in gardening than having a

Native Garden Installation for a Special Furry Friend

The more gardeners I meet, the more I realize that we all want the same thing: beautiful, productive, and easy-to-maintain gardens. We can create those

Raised Garden Bed for a Growing Family

My mission is to incorporate vegetable gardening into modern, busy lives. What better family to start with than with the busiest of families: new parents?

Three Simple Steps to Take Before Planting Your Garden

Ah, May. The month that the weather magically becomes nice and we suddenly remember that we need to plant a garden (and clean up the

Nicole Jagielski

GARDEN COACH

Helping you incorporate growing your own herbs and vegetables into your busy, modern life is my passion. Most people believe they have a “black thumb,” but with the proper setup, I believe in your ability to grow more food on your patio, in your backyard, or on your balcony than you know what to do with.

Certified Gardenary Consultant