Earth Box: is it worth the investment?
I want to have a garden. I don't especially look forward to the work - in fact, I have to admit that I really kinda hate gardening. But I love, love, love garden fresh produce and it's worth the work. I think we as a family would learn a lot, and I suspect that my kids would really enjoy it.
But I don't want to do a lot of work for nothing. We live among deer and rocks and very little else. It makes for lovely breathtaking scenery, but there's no practical way to grow a garden. We would need an 8' tall fence, several loads of dirt to pile on top of our rocks, a whole lotta water, and some fervent prayers. Prayer is good, but I don't want to test God by asking him to save our veggies before we have taken appropriates measures and those measures won't be cheap.
So...how about container gardening? We have a suitable deck. And now I get to the point.
5 gallon buckets would probably work, but they're a bit on the ugly utilitarian side. And I'm guessing they're not the most efficient use of space, water, and resources.
I've had my eye on the Earth Box for years now. Have you used it? It is all it's cracked up to be? Is it worth the investment? Or is it too easy to make your own Earth Box substitute?
Want more like this post? Read on!
- Cheerful Frugality Plays Outdoors Earlier this spring I decided to let my garden dreams...
- Bread Crumbs A friend wrote to ask if she could make bread...
20 Responses to “Earth Box: is it worth the investment?”
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I have a couple.. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.. I have a black thumb and even I can keep it alive with these.
If you plan on doing multple plants it is awesome
M
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I’m not sure about the earth box but I would rec a book- “You Grow Girl.” It’s both a book and a website and is a great resource for organic urban/container gardening.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I haven’t tried the earth box. We’ve tried some buckets- Tomato plants love those Orange Home Depot Buckets. We’ve also bought some composite decking and made raised beds. Then filled it in with truckloads of dirt. We’re trying to expand our growing area, so buckets and the earth box wouldn’t be big enough. Our land is on a hill and is clayey and rockey and not great, so raised beds work great for us.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I had an earthbox and used it for exactly one season. Actually it grew two cherry tomato plants wonderfully.
Why I didn’t use it again, I’m not sure. Something about lugging it into the basement for the winter where it was out of sight out of mind, not cleaning it out and losing the grate. I don’t think it was the earthbox’s fault.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I should probably add that it seems like it would be easy enough to make.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I haven’t used the earth box but have two sqare foot beds that I love. I did tomatoes and herbs in containers. I see the EB has plastic to keep water from evaporating so it might help but the containers take a LOT more water. The big thing is to have a good mix to your soil with some added peat and stuff to help hold in the water. I am going to add rain barrels to our rear spouts this year.In Alabama I would think the plastic would bake the roots- anyone know about that? Oh, I buried 20 oz plastic coke bottles near the plants like tomatoes- with small holes made into the sides. I just left about 2 inches sticking up and when I watered I poured the water in the bottle and it slowly keeps the roots watered without evaporation.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I have a grow box and I love it! I am getting two more next season. The best part about these boxes is the ease of use. You don’t have to babysit your plants 24/7. Fill the box full of water once or twice a week, use some good potting soil mix and compost or other fertilizer and you will have green peppers the size of your fist! They are great boxes. To me they are worth the investment because even a busy career worker mom like me can grow perfect veggies even when I forget to water (which is most of the time;) Hope this helps!
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:53 pm
We have had great luck for many years with our Earth Box! The combination of water reservoir and plastic cover helps keep plants warm and moist, better than other containers. Good for lazy or forgetful gardeners like me! We usually grow strawberries in them.
I notice the new model of Earth Boxes have casters, which seem great – moving the big heavy boxes is a pain! Fortunately we live in northern California and don’t have to pull them in for winter.
Maybe you should try just one, along with other container/raised bed methods, and see which works for you before you commit a lot of money.
Good luck!
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I container garden using pots, boxes, anything that’ll hold dirt and water! Tomato and pepper plants grow well in pots; herbs too! Potatoes can be grown in a large trash bag or trash can (I’m growing mine in the basement in a bag so I can cut a slit in the side to harvest my bounty!) Carrots and other root veggies can be grown in the same manner in smaller containers! That’s my frugal way to garden! Hope that helps!
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Kim, I recommend you (or anyone on this board) ask to be put on Bluebird Hill’s e-letter list. Ask Linda to add you to her list. She is just starting her spring planting articles, and they are very helpful and interesting. Linda is growing a lot in containers now after years of regular gardening. If you ask her, she will be glad to tell you about it.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I looked up the Earth Box and also how to make your own. Honest! I think they are both a big waste of money. People have been doing container gardens for years with less work. Ok, use the totes if you like. And you can first paint the outside a color to match your home and decopodge photos on them or scrapebook ideas. But I would think they would then have to be sealed with a waterproof sealer to. Look up container gardens and see the cost difference. Also can always build permanent containers from wood or even brick.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:44 pm
http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/containerindoor/container.asp
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 am
Have you heard of “lasagna gardening”? You could potentially have a garden on your rocks with this method and climate. If you google the phrase, you’ll find many books and articles.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
Oops. The email address for Linda at Blue Bird Hill Farm is They have a great newsletter. They have a website bbhfarm.com but they don’t keep it up.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
There’s another choice out there – Garden Patch Grow Box. It holds more water, includes the fertilizer and priced less. I also think it’s a lot more attractive and won’t spill water all over your deck. http://www.agardenpatch.com
January 24th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I have gardened for years; using both ground & now disabled i plant in pots; the LA times had a GREAT article last year on the ‘no dig garden” which enables ANYONE even in cities without earth to dig in; check it out in the archives! any/all planters can be painted using a specific paint; you can easily set up drip irrigation systems even on timers; http://www.hoophouse.com is a great site I would spend the $ on THAT rather than “planters” ! it is like a moveable green house, relatively inexpensive that would enable you to grow year round; again the “growers” use the drip system; raised beds is also a great way to go; to make it EASIER if you can’t do a lot of bending (like me) make your own “saw horses” put plywood on top; & put your pots on top of them for easy access! YES! even the mobility impaired can garden!
January 26th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Funny, my husband used some of those buckets and hung them so the plants grew upside down. Those plants were huge, with huge fruit. Then there was a huge windstorm and the plant broke. Oh well.
February 14th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
we have made raised beds using a kiddie pools, staked it to the ground, cut out the bottom and filled with soil. the larger pools last longer have been using them for 4 years now and still going. cheaper than using wood. like the idea of composite wood for raised beds, that will last longer. need to think of what to use when my pools give out. we also tried growing upside down tomatos but it didnt work very well. we have been looking at using the grow boxes (cheaper version of earthbox)to grow some vegies.
March 13th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
My wife and I decided to do Earthboxes this year. Amortize the cost over several years, figure the water savings and not having to purchase a tiller and the cost becomes a non-issue.
I suspect that what you build DIY won’t be as durable as the real thing, and my time is too valuable to spend building something that I can buy ready-to-use. Earthboxes are made from recycled material. I doubt the boxes for the DIY projects are so they aren’t a very “green” solution.
I was able to start by boxes 6 weeks earlier than in-ground and just roll them in/out(another advantage of EBs over DIY) of my garage depending on the weather. I’ll also get fall/winter crops in the boxes with much less effort than in-ground.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Ken,
You raise some good points.
Some people buy new containers to make their boxes. That wasn’t the case for me. Mine were recycled in the sense that I no longer needed them for their original purpose and found another good use for them.
You may be right about durability, though, especially in the hot Texas sun. If that’s the case, I’ll try to find another free container or shell out the money for Earthboxes.
As for the value of time, once we knew what we were doing, each box took ~15 minutes and saved how much? $60? That’s a very good return on my time, even if my box is slightly smaller.
Leave a Comment