Redwood Seeds Blog

  • Fruit Tree Guilds: Permaculture Style!

    Fruit Tree Guilds: Permaculture Style!

    Fruit tree guilds are modeled from the forest. In a healthy forest there is canopy, undergrowth and ground cover. Each species interacts and provides nutrient, protection or habitat for the others. Read more »

  • Variety Spotlight: Dark Star Zucchini + recipes

    Variety Spotlight: Dark Star Zucchini + recipes

    I suspect that by this time of year many of you are starting to look for creative ways to eat zucchini. It is amazing that just a few thriving summer squash plants can produce SO MUCH food. At this time of year folks start leaving bags of zucchini on front steps and if you turn your back you have giant marrows in your Read more »

  • Blossom End Rot: Simple Solutions for Better Tomatoes!

    Blossom End Rot: Simple Solutions for Better Tomatoes!

      Anyone else have these brown spots on their tomatoes and wonder what is going on? This is called Blossom End Rot, BER, and is a common tomato issue. It is a physiological disorder, not a disease, and directly linked to calcium, Ca. It is also more commonly seen in roma, determinate and some heirloom varieties but rarely in cherry tomatoes.  I’ll try to sum it up and drop a little plant biology 101: Plants have two main transport systems for nutrients. The xylem is a one way channel from the root zone where nutrients like calcium are absorbed from the soil and transported in... read more »

  • Gophers, Deer and Rabbits, OH MY: Practical advise to preserve your garden

    Gophers, Deer and Rabbits, OH MY: Practical advise to preserve your garden

    The fact is, as soon as you plant a garden, they will come. Especially if you live in the dry west like we do. In the summer our gardens are a shining oasis of green in the midst of the yellow brown and the animals flock. We can definitely add ground squirrels to that list of voracious wildlife as well!  Read more »

  • Growing Seeds on Contract: Learn the steps to add seed growing to your income

    Growing Seeds on Contract: Learn the steps to add seed growing to your income

    We are back to a topic near and dear to me, seed saving. But this weekend I'm looking at the business side of it. Have you ever considered growing seeds to supplement your income? If you already garden, saving seeds is often a natural progression and can fit in with market or home gardening quite nicely. Seed saving is one of those skills that you just dive in and start doing. You don't need a university degree in the subject, though if you have one, all the better! To be honest, when we started growing seeds on contract in 2007,... read more »