Save the date.

Well, if you’re reading this — and you’re not one of the few who have been visiting this site as it has developed during the past few months — then you’ve received the “Save the Date” notices we sent out.

So, welcome.

We discovered this idea for the announcements two years ago when we first visited Redwood National Park together. They sell these postcards at the Samoa Cookhouse, an old logger’s diner that Sarah’s dad, Jim, was excited for us to try. I have a redwood and a sequoia growing from a postcard I bought that first time around. When we were up in Eureka figuring out wedding details this past June, we bought a whole bag of the cards to use for our “Save the Dates.” The Samoa Cookhouse is where we will have our rehearsal dinner — and probably several other meals while there for the wedding.

It all ties together.

We are stoked about the announcements because they encapsulate some of what our wedding’s all about. The announcement is a postcard, which is kind of the classic traveler’s communication — and, in part, this wedding is about traveling together and experiencing Redwood National Park. And it promotes the environment by encouraging you to grow the seeds that are enclosed in between the cards — and we are trying to make the wedding as green as possible.

In regard to the seeds, we encourage everyone to try to grow them — green thumb or not. When we cooked up this idea, we thought how cool it would be if in the time between the announcement and the wedding people grew little redwoods or sequoias, like a living “Save the Date” reminder.

One estimate I read for the total carbon sequestered in a mature redwood tree is in the neighborhood of 800 tons. This is a conservative estimate that does not include the branches, needles, and roots. The average American spews about 1,600 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through fossil fuel consumption in his or her lifetime. So, get two redwoods to reach maturity and you’re square — at least in terms of fossil fuels.

There are growing instructions on the interior of the postcards, but that is only one way to do it, and not necessarily the best. If you plan to try, it can be as easy as:

1. Get a plastic cup and punch several holes in the bottom for drainage.
2. Put dirt from your yard in the cup (without weeds or grass, if possible).
3. Dump the seeds on top of the dirt.
4. Add just enough dirt to cover the seeds.
5. Water. Don’t let the soil dry out. Put the plant in a mostly sunny area. If it’s going to happen, it will happen within four weeks.

Or, for a more complete set of guidelines:

1. Get a 1-gallon plastic pot with drainage holes at the bottom.
2. Get some potting soil (I recommend Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Soil).
3. Fill the pot nearly to the top with soil and then pat it down to remove air pockets and refill until it’s about two inches from the rim.
4. Spread the seeds evenly over the soil (if you get anything to grow, e-mail me when they’re a few inches tall and we’ll talk about separating them).
5. Add just enough dirt to cover the seeds, about a ¼ inch.
6. Water — make sure the soil gets wet all the way through the first time, then just water as needed to keep the soil from drying out during germination. Unless it’s unreasonably hot, watering once a week should do it until the weather cools off, then twice a month or as needed until the weather warms next summer.
7. Put the pot in a sunny location that gets some shade. Wait four weeks.

Because they grow so tall, redwoods are extremely efficient with water. Because they spend most of their lives fighting their way through the shade to the light, they are extremely efficient with sunlight. Because of both of these factors, redwoods grow fast — three feet or more a year — and they are drought tolerant once established. Once established, they’ll care for themselves.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Jason