Earth boxs

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Has anybody ever used Earth boxs? They are like container gardening but the are actually put out by the Earth box manufactures. If any one has had any experience with them I would like to hear about them. Thanks Roxanne

-- Roxanne (hmstdlady@webtv.net), December 08, 2000

Answers

Yes, Roxanne, I've used them, and I like them. I don't have a homestead yet, nor a garden, so I have to grow in containers.

I have grown a zucchini, an acorn squash, a canteloupe, and lots of different tomatoes in them. They worked well for all, except that the canteloupe ran out of growing season before the fruit was more than a tennis ball. I did need room for the vines to spread out (I was growing on a deck, so they stayed cleaner than on the ground). For the tomatoes, I had trouble with staking them properly. I would recommend using bigger stakes than they recommend, then lashing horizontal poles onto them. Also, fill the boxes in the location you want them to be. You can drag them a bit, but they are very heavy once filled. If there are two of you to do the lifting and wheelbarrowing to another location, this isn't as important.

I've used them two summers. The second year, I dug out the top dirt and renewed the fertilizer, and that seemed to work fine. I don't know about this next year. I may decide that I have to rework them a bit more.

If you have any specific questions, post them and I'll respond. My sister has used them too, and will probably weigh in here sooner or later. I bought mine direct from the company (I don't know if there is any other way to buy them), and the more you bought, the greater a discount you could get. That was two years ago, so I don't know if they're still doing that. If they are, you might see if anyone else in your locale wants to get some at the same time.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 08, 2000.


Well, here I am, sooner! I have gardened conventionally, in various containers over the years, in raised beds, and in Earth Boxes and related products. Earth Boxes are the best of their type that I have found and I like mine for what they do. Obviously, they're not for growing potatoes, nor cereal crops. My best successes with them have been for growing greens (chard, etc) and tomatoes. In the cold summer we just came through, my tomatoes planted in the raised beds didn't ripen before they were freezing out, but the Patio tomatoes, Tumblers, and Cherry types in their boxes were under a hoop house with a better climate and were able to stay out long enough to ripen some very tasty tomatoes.

I have seen some locally that are placed into some big shopping carts (the metal ones at grocery stores) with the plants in those out on the driveway of someone's house. They just wheel them into the garage at night if frost is predicted! I thought that was pretty clever.

My main complaint about them is that the plastic you stretch over the top and hold on with little clips sometimes comes loose in the wind, or if you have to move them. The clips are easy to lose.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), December 09, 2000.


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