Redwood Seeds Blog
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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Variety Spotlight: Drink Hibiscus Roselle for Juneteenth
Do you ever stop to think about the stories behind the plants in your garden? How did those seeds move around the world? Who’s pockets did they travel in? Where are they native to? A few weeks ago a friend told me about a tasty caribbean drink called Sorrel she was making with hibiscus and chai like spices and sent me the recipe. This jogged my memory: our friends the Kesslers, who spent many years in Eritrea, often served me a similar sweetened hibiscus drink when visiting their home. My curiosity piqued. I soon had 10 web pages open about the history of Hibiscus... read more »
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Saving Lettuce Seed: Step by step with photos
Do you have lettuce planted in your garden right now? Are you curious about seed saving? Lettuce, Lactuca sativa, is a great place to start because it is a self pollinated species. Many species require a large population of plants to produce quality seed but with lettuce you can get away with only saving seed from 1 plant and still get good seed…and plenty of it! Read more »
