WCS Academy

Gardening advice, How To Grow Guides, and Seasonal inspiration.

Explore practical articles on seed starting, crop-specific growing tips, seasonal planning, pest management, and garden projects from the West Coast Seeds team.

111 articles Updated seasonally by West Coast Seeds

Filter Posts

All Filters

We like to make distinctions that do not exist in the natural world. Bees are descended from wasps and are so closely related we should...

Continue Reading

We like to make distinctions that do not exist in the natural world. Bees are descended from wasps and are so closely related we should think of them as wasps with good PR. So,...

Continue Reading

West Coast Seeds recently launched the hashtag #savetherustypatchbumblebee across our social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We have been encouraging our followers to...

Continue Reading

West Coast Seeds recently launched the hashtag #savetherustypatchbumblebee across our social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We have been encouraging our followers to re-share our post and tag a friend in an...

Continue Reading

Gardening instructions can be full of peculiar phrases from British gardening traditions. “Potting on,” “pricking out,” and “hardening off” are all things we do with...

Continue Reading

Gardening instructions can be full of peculiar phrases from British gardening traditions. “Potting on,” “pricking out,” and “hardening off” are all things we do with seedlings to help them prepare for eventual transplanting out...

Continue Reading

The changing seasons, and the longer daylight hours in summer are a result of the angle of the Earth’s axis in relation to the sun....

Continue Reading

The changing seasons, and the longer daylight hours in summer are a result of the angle of the Earth’s axis in relation to the sun. It’s easy to forget how these changes can affect...

Continue Reading

Learn about keeping orchard mason bees. In late winter, hang your mason bee nest against a wall in a sunny location that has morning light....

Continue Reading

Learn about keeping orchard mason bees. In late winter, hang your mason bee nest against a wall in a sunny location that has morning light. Placing it about eye level is best. That way...

Continue Reading

With Mom’s special day fast approaching, we put together a simple Mother’s Day gift bag you can print at home. Cut it out from the...

Continue Reading

With Mom’s special day fast approaching, we put together a simple Mother’s Day gift bag you can print at home. Cut it out from the template and follow our instructions for folding and gluing...

Continue Reading

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...

Continue Reading

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...

Continue Reading

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...

Continue Reading

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...

Continue Reading

West Coast Seeds is a proud supporter of the amazing organization, Growing Chefs. These “Chefs for Children’s Urban Agriculture” bring food into the urban classroom...

Continue Reading

West Coast Seeds is a proud supporter of the amazing organization, Growing Chefs. These “Chefs for Children’s Urban Agriculture” bring food into the urban classroom in the form of raw ingredients that are completely...

Continue Reading

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...

Continue Reading

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...

Continue Reading

As we continue this Twenty-one Days of Green, planting trees seemed like an obvious choice. There are several fruit trees already growing on the farm...

Continue Reading

As we continue this Twenty-one Days of Green, planting trees seemed like an obvious choice. There are several fruit trees already growing on the farm at West Coast Seeds, so the idea came to...

Continue Reading

One of the amazing opportunities facing all gardeners and farmers is planting for wildlife — or, at least, growing food with biodiversity in mind. Organic...

Continue Reading

One of the amazing opportunities facing all gardeners and farmers is planting for wildlife — or, at least, growing food with biodiversity in mind. Organic gardeners understand that soil health is inherently dependent on...

Continue Reading

Grass is used to fill in an awful lot of public spaces. We think of it as the automatic response to revitalizing just about any...

Continue Reading

Grass is used to fill in an awful lot of public spaces. We think of it as the automatic response to revitalizing just about any building or construction site, and since grasses are so...

Continue Reading

Okay – now for the fun stuff. Seed balls (sometimes called seed bombs), are simple balls of clay and soil that contain seeds. They can...

Continue Reading

Okay – now for the fun stuff. Seed balls (sometimes called seed bombs), are simple balls of clay and soil that contain seeds. They can be placed or tossed into their growing spot, and...

Continue Reading

We love the Queen of Green. Since 2009, environmentalist Lindsay Coulter has been blogging as David Suzuki’s Queen of Green on the website of the...

Continue Reading

We love the Queen of Green. Since 2009, environmentalist Lindsay Coulter has been blogging as David Suzuki’s Queen of Green on the website of the David Suzuki Foundation. If you want to take practical...

Continue Reading

At West Coast Seeds we are huge fans of school gardens. Nothing beats seeing a class of happy, engaged kids learning about how soil works,...

Continue Reading

At West Coast Seeds we are huge fans of school gardens. Nothing beats seeing a class of happy, engaged kids learning about how soil works, and how to grow food from seed. The match...

Continue Reading

It’s pronounced “zee-re-scape-ing.” And it’s a key concept for landscapers as we look to a future of water conservation and climate change. It’s worth mentioning...

Continue Reading

It’s pronounced “zee-re-scape-ing.” And it’s a key concept for landscapers as we look to a future of water conservation and climate change. It’s worth mentioning again in this series of Twenty-one Days of Green...

Continue Reading

For the 21 days leading up to Earth Day, we are asking you to Commit to Grow with us. We appreciate that some of you...

Continue Reading

For the 21 days leading up to Earth Day, we are asking you to Commit to Grow with us. We appreciate that some of you might not even have outdoor gardening space, so today...

Continue Reading

In this installment of Commit to Grow for Earth Day, we take the chance to explain why we choose to maintain our status as certified...

Continue Reading

In this installment of Commit to Grow for Earth Day, we take the chance to explain why we choose to maintain our status as certified organic handlers of seeds. What does it mean to...

Continue Reading

While recreational field turf has its uses, most urban and suburban lawn leaves the Earth with a net loss. Space that could be used for...

Continue Reading

While recreational field turf has its uses, most urban and suburban lawn leaves the Earth with a net loss. Space that could be used for growing food or feeding pollinators is dedicated instead to...

Continue Reading

We continue our Twenty-One Days of Green with a look at an amazing community group. One of our favourite of all gardening organizations is Plant...

Continue Reading

We continue our Twenty-One Days of Green with a look at an amazing community group. One of our favourite of all gardening organizations is Plant a Row Grow a Row. Quite simply, they encourage...

Continue Reading

The theme of this Twenty-one Days of Green campaign is to encourage everyone to Commit to Grow just one item that might otherwise be purchased...

Continue Reading

The theme of this Twenty-one Days of Green campaign is to encourage everyone to Commit to Grow just one item that might otherwise be purchased at a grocery store. We love using chives as...

Continue Reading

Commit to Grow for Earth Day. It’s already April, and Earth Day on April 22nd is fast approaching. We love to see people celebrating this...

Continue Reading

Commit to Grow for Earth Day. It’s already April, and Earth Day on April 22nd is fast approaching. We love to see people celebrating this important day, but we were wondering what we could...

Continue Reading

Spring and summer, 2015… Hot and dry! The whole west coast of North America has been deprived of our spring rainfall and exposed to really...

Continue Reading

Spring and summer, 2015… Hot and dry! The whole west coast of North America has been deprived of our spring rainfall and exposed to really unusual heat. From California’s record breaking drought right up...

Continue Reading