How to Plant Dahlia Tubers Knowing how to plant dahlia tubers can be confusing for new growers. Tubers come in many shapes and sizes, making it hard for a new grower to know what to plant. This blog will help you demystify dahlias to help you confidently plant a healthy tuber and, in turn, guarantee dahlia blooms in your garden. How to Choose a Dahlia Tuber When shopping for dahlias, an online search will bring up many different sites selling dahlias in different forms. Dahlias can be grown from seed, from propagated tuber cuttings, or from a mass of roots formed during the second year of a t ..read more

Learning how to grow plants from seeds is easy and gives you access to a myriad of unique varieties that are only available in seed form Step 1: Choose the Correct Season Starting at the correct time of year is the first step to learning how to grow plants from seeds. Start seeds 5–6 weeks before their ideal growing season, which is the time of the year when the air and soil temperatures are warm. In Zones 9 or 10, plant crops in either the cool season (fall through early spring) or warm season (spring through summer) according to the crop. Check the back of the seed pack to verify which seaso ..read more

Our gifts for gardeners — that they will actually use — is back for the 2023 holiday season! Welcome to our 2023 Holiday Gift Guide, where we’ve handpicked a delightful selection of gifts that will make any gardener’s heart bloom with joy, and yes, that includes you! Our Holiday Gift Guide presents meaningful, impactful, and fun options, providing unique and valuable gifts for the gardeners in your life. Here’s what’s flourishing in our garden of gift ideas this year:   Rad SDSC Gear Express your love for the San Diego Seed Company with our rad gear! Explore our Straight Outta C ..read more

Growing Potatoes During Fall in Zones 9 and 10 Don’t forget your seed potatoes! Growing potatoes from seed potatoes in Zones 9 and 10 during the fall can be rewarding, as these regions provide a favorable climate for this cool-season crop. Some gardeners miss out on planting seed potatoes in the fall, mistakenly thinking they must wait till spring. This practice leads to smaller potato harvests as gardeners miss out on almost five months of growing time for their seed potatoes. Here’s a guide to help you successfully cultivate fall potatoes in these zones: Variety Selection of your Seed Potato ..read more

How to Grow Sweet Pea Flowers in Zones 9 and 10 If you have ever wondered how to grow sweet pea flowers in Zones 9 and 10, do not worry; you are not alone! This flower is often mistakenly planted much too late in the year in Zones 9 and 10, yielding little to no blooms before it burns up. Many beginning gardeners get enticed by the stunning blossoms and the amazing fragrance of sweet peas in the springtime and think they have time to plant their own. Well, do not make that mistake! In general, once you see sweet peas blooming in Zones 9 and 10, it’s much too late to plant your own. Here are th ..read more

On August 12th, 2023, we hosted our second annual tomato tasting, Tomatotopia on the Farm. This fun event is a great way to get customer feedback about new tomato varieties we are trialing and geek out about all things tomatoes. This year we were blessed by perfect weather and the addition of a shade structure on the farm! In addition to our productive crop fields, the farm is slowly and surely becoming an enjoyable and comfortable space for hosting events. This year’s tasting was a blind test to prevent our varieties’ names from swaying any results. We tested the following tomatoes, all grow ..read more

As our 2023 Dahlia tubers growing season comes to a close and we look over the garden to see some of the season’s last blooms starting to open while others drop their petals, we reflect on things we have learned this year. As with any growing season, there are many things to learn and take away to improve the next season. What did we learn this year from growing Dahlia tubers? In our first year of growing Dahlias tubers on a large scale both at the urban farm and the Ramona farm, we conducted several experiments to answer common questions that growers of Zone 9 and 10 ask. Here is what we foun ..read more

July 2023 VIP Members, Summer has finally arrived, and your garden is likely in full swing! You have flowers still blooming and veggies that are starting to produce for your kitchen. We love every month in the garden, but July–August can be challenging since most of us have not seen rain for some time now, and the ground is getting parched. Remember when you are planting in your garden that the area you are watering may be surrounded by dry, parched soil. That means it will suck away moisture from your newly planted seeds and transplants. Water often and heavily! We have exciting news for the ..read more

Gardening in Extreme Heat Gardening in extreme heat is a common issue for Zones 9 and 10 growers. In fact, extreme heat can be common in many areas of the southern United States from June through late fall. For gardeners in Southern California specifically, extreme heat can plague us from summer solstice until late October or even into November. With global warming continuing to cause rises in temperatures, more and more people gardening in urban spaces, and the longer and more intense heat periods we are experiencing, knowing how to garden in extreme heat is a key skill you need throughout th ..read more

Over the years, we have developed an organic raised bed soil recipe that will help your plants thrive, conserve moisture in hot climates, and increase the microbiology of your soil. It is essential to begin with the best soil possible when growing crops in any raised bed container or pot where the roots of your crops do not have access to the soil underneath them. This is because your plants only have access to the soil in the container and are restricted to what you provide. Take the time and energy to fill your raised beds, planters, pots, or containers with a wide range of amendments. Our o ..read more