Growing Practices

Our Growing Practices 

• Facts:
  • All of our seedlings/starts are grown in living soil, using only organic (OMRi-listed) inputs.  
  • We have been growing 100% peat-free and coco-free since 2023.  Shout-out to Pittmoss! 
  • Strong healthy root systems are a priority.  Here are a few ways we make this happen:
    • 99% of our seeds are started in soil blocks**.  
      • Soil blocking reduces plastic use 
      • Soil blocking encourages air pruning which reduces transplant shock and creates a dense, healthy root system! 
    • we use Anderson pots with cross bottoms (instead of traditional pots with closed bottoms) for seedlings once they graduate from soil blocks
      • Cross bottomed pots encourage air pruning 
      • Air pruning prevents roots from circling or getting entangled.  Instead, air pruning sends a signal to the plant to produce more roots, which creates a more dense and robust root system.  Strong root systems help prevent transplant shock and also promote overall plant health.  

In full transparency, here are the soil amendments/fertilizers we use to grow our seedlings from start to sale.  All of these items can be purchased at Concentrates* in Milwaukie (where we also sell starts!).  All of these products are OMRI-listed for organic use, all are made in the US and most are made in the PNW! 

• PittMoss Plentiful
• Pumice 
• Seacoast Compost
• SCD BioAg 
• BioAg VAM-Endo Mix (mycorrhizal fungi) 
  
• Concentrates 5-5-3 All Purpose Fertilizer (organic) 
• Tidal Grow Oceanic Hydrolysate (liquid fertilizer for seedlings in the vegetative stage)
• Tidal Grow SeaPhos (liquid fertilizer for the blooming/fruiting stage)
  

*Concentrates is a local supplier of organic composts, fertilizer, soil amendments etc, located in Milwaukie, OR.  

Concentrates, Inc. 
5505 SE International Way, Milwaukie, OR 97222
Mon-Fri: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sat: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sun: CLOSED 

Seed Sources 

Most of our seeds are 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) -  open pollination encourages diversity and resilience.   

• Adaptive Seeds - Sweet Home, OR
  
• Rhythm Seed Farm - Portland, OR
• PDX Peppers - Portland, OR 
• Siskyou Seeds -  Williams, OR
  
• Uprising Seeds - Bellingham, OR
  

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.