How We Grow Our Plants

Our Growing Practices 

As of 2023, we are officially peat-free!  The growing mediums we use include: PittMoss Plentiful, Pumice, Seacoast Compost and Organic Worm Castings.  
The fertilizers we use include: Concentrates All Purpose Organize Fertilizer (5-5-3) with Mycorrhizal Fungi and Pacific Gro Oceanic Hydrolysate (Organic).  

We use soil blocking to start 99% of our seeds, this enables us to ditch the plastic and encourage stronger, healthier root systems.  To learn more about soil blocking, click here.  We use a modified version of Eliot Coleman's recipe to create our soil blocks...Here is what our soil blocking recipe consists of: 

Every step in the process is handled by us.  We hand mix all the soil, whisper sweet words of encouragement for our plant babies, handle all of the transplanting, watering, etc.  We take every measure to ensure our plants are grown sustainably, handled with care and are healthy!   

About Our Seed Sources 

We buy most of our seeds from PNW-based companies.  We focus on purchasing from seed companies that use organic + regenerative farming practices and are committed to stewarding the land.  All of the seeds we purchase and grow are open pollinated (OP), aka NOT hybrids (F1).  Open pollination encourages diversity and resilience.   

We focus on growing plants that are well adapted to our climate (zone 9a).   We do this because we want to be better stewards of the land, save seed and do our part in helping to secure our food's future.  

Where we buy all of our soil amendments 

We buy all of our soil amendments, fertilizer, etc. at Concentrates in Milwaukie, OR.  They are a supplier of garden/agricultural products near Portland., specializing in organic soil amendments, fertilizers, feeds, minerals and salts.  They are family owned and operated.  They are also the only supplier on the West Coast that stocks PittMoss! Their prices and ultra high quality of organic products are unlike anywhere else we've ever seen.  Going there is like Target for gardeners.   Seriously.  

If you don't live local to the Portland metro, you can order their products online and have them shipped to you.  You can also order online and select will-call for local pick-up at their showroom in Milwaukie.  

Also, we are not getting any kickbacks for promoting Concentrates.  We simply think everyone should know where to find and shop for the best prices and highest quality, organic products for their garden. 
We shop there both for our business and for our personal gardens, even buying our chicken feed there!  They have a HUGE selection of local products and their staff is super knowledgeable about all the things. 
Knowledge is power ya'll! 

If you want to shop in person, here's their info:  

Concentrates, Inc. 
5505 SE International Way, Milwaukie, OR 
Mon-Fri: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sat: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sun: CLOSED