Garden Wisdom Blog — Commit-to-Grow

No matter where you live, growing food in containers can be accomplished if you learn some basics. While some types of vegetables are simply better suited to growing with their roots in the ground, the determined gardener can grow almost any kind of food plant in containers. It is the nature of all plants that some require more root space than others. Lettuce, for instance, has a relatively small root system that grows shallowly, near the surface of the soil. By comparison, some squash plants have roots that will have an eventual diameter of thirty feet if they’re allowed to...

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0011/2341/8172/files/V3.mp4   Take an Earth Day peek at our new facilities. Sincere thanks to everyone who has joined us for these Twenty-one Days of Green leading up to Earth Day. We’ve tried to show that there is reason for hope and optimism, from classroom to farm to grocery store. But your participation is part of the process of healing this planet. This is a group effort. In today’s video, WCS President Orrin Morishita talks about the values of sustainability that went into the design of our new space, and those that guide our business model moving forward. We want our...

In nearly any gardening situation, we have the opportunity to mentor — and to be mentored. Growing food organically is a life-long learning curve. Newbie gardeners sometimes feel shy about asking questions, but this is the way to learn. Master gardeners understand that there are always more innovations and ideas that will help us rethink and reshape our gardens. At West Coast Seeds, we are very proud of our staff mentoring program. Raised garden beds were offered to all staff as both a hands-on teaching tool and a way to break up the day and relax for a moment. Our...

CSAs represent one of the ways that small organic farmers are changing the way we think about food, the way we access food, and how we, as consumers, participate with food production. CSA stands for Community-Supported Agriculture, and we’ve talked about this before. The basic idea is that a farm sells shares in its produce early in the season. The shareholders are guaranteed boxes of fresh produce from the farm to be picked up at regular (usually weekly) intervals. Sometimes the farmer arranges to have the shares delivered to central pickup spots like farmers’ markets. Farm Box Pickup   The...

Food miles measure the literal distance in mileage between the producer and the consumer. They’re used to demonstrate the relative carbon footprints of conventionally farmed and imported groceries. This isn’t an effort to make consumers feel guilty. It’s about better understanding the burden our regular food consumption places on the environment. What it might compel some people to do is to be more proactive about growing some of their own food. We think that growing some of your own food is a pretty good idea anyway. Although food miles are a good measure of how shipping food impacts the environment,...