Last summer, we ate fresh, giant Beefsteak Tomatoes, picked fresh off the vines growing just a couple feet from the kitchen. And delicious fresh corn from seven foot high stalks. The lush tomato plants and giant cornstalks grew amazingly well in my EarthBox self-watering container planters, right on my sunny porch.

Are you drooling, now? Tired of those pathetic tasting supermarket tomatoes? Then, keep reading!

I was delighted to share my experience ordering from The EarthBox Online Store, and now I am equally pleased to tell you about these EarthBoxes.

This summer, once again, the Dianapinions Tomato Farm thrives, and we’ve added cucumbers and bell peppers for more variety. My young son is my partner-in-crime in this endeavor, and we’re having a blast with it. We now have five EarthBoxes.

Now, in case you are wondering if I am a Natural Gardener, let me tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. Before I discovered EarthBoxes, I would kill everything I attempted to plant. I was practically banned from the local nurseries! My picture was posted on “Wanted” signs, for horticultural homicide! Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but let’s just say I was a seriously lousy gardener.

Plus, I’m just insanely busy. With a demanding career, a house, and kids, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is to run around the yard with a hose, or bend down to dig up weeds. Our pathetic gardening attempts died from neglect.

Yet, I loved the idea of saving money, and eating healthier and tastier food by growing it myself.

EarthBox has been my solution. Trust me, if I can be a successful vegetable gardener with EarthBox, ANYONE can!

What it is:
The Earthbox is a large planter with two sections. The water reservoir below holds about 2-3 gallons of water. The top half holds your potting mix, fertilizer and plants. An aeration screen in between allows the water to be wicked throughout the soil. You end up with a large water reservoir to continually keep the soil moist. With the drainage hole, overwatering (a common cause of plant demise), is simply not possible. Keep the reservoir full, by frequently filling the attached fill tube until water comes out the drainage hole, and you’ll be fine.

A black, plastic elasticized tarp covers the potting mix (with cutout sections for the plants) and keeps in moisture while preventing weeds.

As for color, you have a choice of green, terra-cotta or white.

What can you use it for?
The planter is very large. Approximately, one foot deep and high, while two feet long, it weighs around 80 pounds when filled with water and potting mix. It is large enough to handle 2 full-sized tomato plants, 8 bell pepper plants or 16 stalks of corn. There is almost no limit to what can be grown in these containers, if you have adequate sunlight and the right climate.

Some folks use these planters for herbs, strawberries or flowers. Use them indoors or outdoors. I have even seen pictures of New York City apartment dwellers growing watermelons on their small terraces!

Are they difficult to set up?
Not at all. Fill the bottom section with water. Fill the top section with potting mix mixed with 2 cups of dolomite. Sprinkle 2 cups of granular fertilizer, in a little mound, on top. Then cover the Earthbox with the included black, elasticized tarp. Cut out little Xs and insert your seeds or seedlings right in. That’s it! Then just keep it full of water, and your plants will thrive like crazy.

So what is so good about these things?
1. The soil is kept uniformly moist, taking the guesswork out of watering. Also, with the reservoir, one can fill it up, and then go away for a couple days or so (depending on the heat and plant size) without worrying about watering the plants.

2.The planters come with casters, so it is easy to move these planters indoors or to sunnier or shadier locations.

3. No weeding!

4. Add fertilizer when setting up the planter, then you are done for the season.

5. These things are growing machines! I’ve now seen enough pictures of Earthbox plants along side their traditional in-ground garden siblings to know that things just grow better in these Earthboxes. Far better. Which means lots more tomatoes for me to eat, or to give away. Something about the constant water, undisturbed, covered soil, and the fertilizer, and aeration screen just WORKS.

6. In my case, having my plants on my sunny porch, just a few steps from my kitchen has made all the difference. As busy as I am, even I have time to water these planters and keep an eye on my plants.

7. In my own case, having the planters on my second story porch means that deer won’t get to my plants. (At least so far, the Dear Deer haven’t learned to climb up the porch steps!)

8. These planters are durable. Which is good because they are an investment (see negatives below). They stay outdoors summer and winter, without cracking or fading. I have friends who have used them yearly for 8 years without a problem.

9. The Earthbox Forum is a great place! Yes, the website includes an active forum, where friendly, enthusiastic gardeners ask questions, share their successes and failures, and of course, show off photos of their enormous plants and vegetables. We even share recipes. (Hey, you’ve gotta do something when you’ve picked 60 tomatoes!)

10. These are a perfect solution for people with poor soil conditions who cannot have a more traditional garden. I've seen photos of people who have placed dozens of EarthBoxes on their rocky, arid, unsuitable-for-planting soil.

11. EarthBox gardening is also a solution for those who have limited mobility, arthritis, the elderly, or others who find traditional gardening to be physically too difficult. The garden can be placed close to the home, or even indoors by a sunny window. Placed on a platform, one would not even have to bend to water the plants or pick the harvest.

What are the negatives?
1. Price – These planters are an investment, but then again, if you consider the cost of fresh vegetables and fruit, they can actually save you money. In fact, I am certain that I recouped the cost of the planters the first year I used them. Beefsteak tomatoes go for $3-$5 per pound around here, and I was frequently picking 3-10 lb of tomatoes at a clip. Still, it can hurt to shell out $38 per planter, in the beginning. Plus, The EarthBox Staking System is another $30 (but wonderful!), and I purchased that too. Hint: Check their website for the occasional holiday sales, especially in December.

2. One size fits all:
The EarthBoxes only come in one size. It is large and it is heavy! So just make sure that size will work for you. (If not, some other companies do make smaller self-watering container planters). On the other hand, I've noticed on the EarthBox Forum, some people are hoping that EarthBox will make even LARGER boxes, so they can grow miniature fruit trees in these things!

3.You will get so spoiled! Yes, once you are used to grabbing fresh vegetables from your garden (with no pesticides added!), you won’t want to buy anything at the grocery store anymore. And you will go through serious withdrawal if you live in the North, like I do, and have to quit growing stuff in the fall. Now, maybe if I had a greenhouse, and some nice Gro-Lights …..

4. Not widely available in retail stores
While some retailers carry EarthBoxes, most people will probably end up buying theirs online, which means you can't look at it before buying, and you have to pay for shipping.

Anyway, if you end up in my neighborhood someday, stop in for some fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers! I'm Lovin' that Lycopene!

If you are busy, think traditional gardening is a chore, or have poor soil, EarthBox is the way to go!








Recommended: Yes