RE: oops - more on "Earthboxes" - pro/con

**"Garth" g*@mcic.org**

We used them inside a greenhouse to grow early season tomatoes and cukes.
They worked fine. The soil heats up faster than the ground inside the
greenhouse, so you get better production this way.

We've used them outside to grow sweet peppers when we have more plants than
places to put them. They work extremely well for peppers. But they are too
big and too heavy to move around.
We've also used them outdoors for strawberries, crosnes, and Japanese
horseradish. None of these worked well and we will not use them for this
again -- I suspect the soil stayed too wet, or got too hot.

Garth Taylor
Harbert, Michigan (zone 6)

-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-admin@mallorn.com
[community_garden-admin@mallorn.com] On Behalf Of J-P Duncan
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 10:01 AM
To: Grow19@aol.com; DC_EEC@yahoogroups.com; dcsgc@yahoogroups.com;
community_garden@mallorn.com; comfood-l@listproc.tufts.edu;
nefood@elist.tufts.edu
Subject: Re: [cg] oops - more on "Earthboxes" - pro/con

Hi Judy, and all,

       It's been a while since I worked with our team using Earthboxes here
in Scranton PA (where Earthboxes are made); but as I recall you don't have
to use the fertilizer. The yield will not be the same -- at least it wasn't
for kids who tried to grow organically in them. They produced, but the yield
wasn't as great.
      The SAFARIS (Share A Farm And Raise Invigorated Students) after-school
project has been using the Earthboxes for a while, with help from the
manufacturer and The Growing Connection in one of our city parks. We made a
presentation on it at the ACGA annual meeting in Toronto a couple of years
ago. For our purposes, the Earthboxes were great. However, they were
difficult to move. For herbs and flowers, using a two-wheel dolly was OK.
Tomatoes and squash proved a bit difficult. We built a wooden frame in which
to set the boxes; which also supported a mesh trellis. Since our growing
space was fenced, we didn't need to move them so much -- but I imagine that
casters could be added to the wood frames.
      Our kids were growing flowers, herbs, tomatoes, squash, and peppers --
taking some home and selling some at a Farmers' Market in the park. They
found that it was easy to work with the earthbox -- no weeding, no problem
watering etc. When they planted in the ground, they were not as diligent in
caring for their crops.
      I prefer planting in the ground. But in DC, if you don't have the
space, then the earthbox can be a put to good use.

  jp duncan
  Shalom CDC
  Scranton, PA

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