The Old Schoolhouse - March 2012

EarthBox Ready to Grow Kit
www.earthbox.com
888-917-3908

Gardening has always been a challenge
for me in this hot Sacramento, Califor-
nia, weather. Our ground has always
been as hard as a rock in the heat of the
summer no matter what I happened to
add to it. I discovered the EarthBox
and wanted to investigate this for our
family. What I really wanted to know
was, Do these really work the way they
say they will work? Are these things for
real? Can we grow our own food? ;e
answer to these questions was abso-
lutely “Yes!”
;e EarthBox Ready to Grow Kit is
a scienti;c system of food production
that starts with a solidly built container.
;e container itself is completely recy-
clable, UV-protected, and reusable for
many years. ;is was an important
factor in choosing this product for our
area, since our summer sun is destruc-
tive and has ruined other containers we
have used for gardening. Our Earth-
Boxes have withstood the hottest days
with no change whatsoever.

Potting mix, fertilizer, an aeration screen, watering tube, dolomite, and plastic mulch covers complete the Kit. (;e EarthBox is also available for purchase without the soil, fertilizer, and dolomite. You can purchase these things locally if you wish, and that may reduce the cost.) Each aspect of the Kit has its own function and works in tandem with the others.

You begin with the container and add the aeration screen. ;is creates the water reservoir below the screen for a continual source of water. ;is will be re;lled by the next addition to the container, the watering tube. A;er the tube is in place, you will add the damp potting mix. ;e mix is ;rst placed in the two open corners of the aeration screen to wick up the water. ;is step is the key to keeping your plants hydrated throughout the growing season. It is important to remember that you must use potting mix and not potting soil, because the mix is light and airy and will allow the water to be drawn up into it. Potting soil will not work as well.

;ey send along dolomite to sweeten the potting mix for tomato growers. I did not add this to my non-tomato boxes. Once the mix is in place, you will then add a strip of fertilizer in a trench dug out of the soil, the length of the container, and cover it over with at least 2 inches of damp mix. ;is will be placed in di;erent places depending upon what and where you are planting in the box. Detailed planting and fertilizer placement instructions come with the container upon purchase and can also be viewed on their website.

;e next step is to place the plastic
mulch cover over the whole thing and
plant your plants. ;is is the fun part!
;ere are almost endless choices here,
and we tried a bunch of them with
various boxes. We will not be doing a
box of corn next year, because those
plants did not produce as much as we
wanted. ;e ones that did wildly well
were tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini,
cantaloupes, watermelons, honeydew
melons, and pole beans. Next year we
will be doing herbs and bush beans,
and we will try our hand at lettuce and
snap peas. We also plan to put in a fall/
winter garden this year; we can reuse
the potting mix for up to ;ve to seven
years if we change the fertilizer! (...)