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EarthBox Education:
Florida County Extension Office Growing in EarthBoxes!
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The University of Florida Martin County Extension Office is very busy these days! In addition to growing a Sustainable Vegetable Demonstration Garden at their office, they're coordinating the local Florida Yards and Neighborhoods (FYN) Program. Under the stewardship of Multi-County Extension Agent Fred Burkey, a variety of fresh vegetables are being grown and harvested in EarthBoxes, and using other sustainable techniques.
These plants are being tended by FYN Assistant Pat Bonis and a host of community volunteers. Among the vegetables they're growing are several varieties of lettuce, basil, tomatoes, squash, string beans, and broccoli. Some of the harvested produce is sold in the community, and the volunteers also enjoy meals themselves with the freshly picked plants. "This is the first time we've grown in the EarthBoxes, and they are fabulous," notes Ms. Bonis.
For visitors interested in learning more about sustainable growing techniques, the extension office has many different methods on display. You can even buy fresh produce or seedlings while there! For more information, click here.
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Featured Product
Minigardens
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Your solution to successful vertical gardening is here!
Our new Minigarden is a simple, innovative system of gardening modules that lets you grow aromatic herbs, strawberries, greens, and ornamental flowers in a vertical structure. This unit can be installed indoors for green walls or kitchen use, or outside on patios, porches, decks, rooftops, outdoor kitchens, and around fencing or windows.
The Minigarden is free-standing and self-draining. Each unit holds two full cubic feet of growing media, and can be connected with other units vertically, horizontally, back-to-back, or any number of other ways to create a bigger, more expansive garden.
We're proud to announce that our Minigarden is a recipient of the 2010 Green Thumb Award! The Green Thumb Awards recognize outstanding new garden products available by mail or online. The awards are sponsored by the Direct Gardening Association (DGA), a nonprofit association of
companies that sell garden products directly to consumers.
Click here to learn more about the Minigarden!
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We Have a Winner!
We've chosen the latest winner in our ongoing photo contest!
Barbara Nichols will receive a $25 EarthBox gift certificate for her photos of her enormous tomato plants. Here's Barbara's winning entry:
"The EarthBoxes are amazing," says Barbara. "We're swimming in tomatoes!"
We'll be posting more winners as we choose them -- and we're still waiting to hear from you!
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Photo of the Month Contest
Want to win a $25 EarthBox gift certificate? Send us your EarthBox success photos with the word "contest" in the subject line of your email, and you could be a winner!
Please make sure your image is in .JPG format and at least 640×480 pixels or 5 x 7 inches at 72 dpi. We'll pick a new winner every month, and post the entry in an upcoming issue.
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Greetings!
The days just keep getting longer and warmer as we move toward spring! I know we're all looking forward to the new growing year, and in the interim, some enterprising EarthBox growers are experimenting with different kinds of plantings. Here's an idea that especially intrigues us: growing baby vegetables.
Baby vegetables are exactly what they sound like: fresh, tender veggies harvested young, so that you get to enjoy them much earlier than usual. They're fun and easy to grow in an EarthBox, so read on to find out more!
Happy growing,
 Frank DiPaolo EarthBox |
 | Baby Vegetables in the EarthBox
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Growing baby vegetables in the EarthBox is becoming more and more popular: beans, beets, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, green peas, greens, leeks, lettuce, onions, and summer squash are all popular choices. You have two basic options when growing baby vegetables. First, you can plant a dwarf cultivar, of which there are many, and wait until the produce is mature. These varieties are bred to be small, and to be harvested in less time than normal.
Alternately, you can simply plant full-sized cultivars and harvest early. Baby cucumbers, peas, and zucchini are all typically grown this way. Vegetables picked before their maturity date can be exquisitely tender and tasteful -- and in some cases, you can harvest them in as little as a few weeks, as soon as the fruits form.
EarthBox Baby Lettuce in Just Four Weeks!
One of our favorite baby vegetables is baby lettuce. Growing baby lettuce takes just 28 to 35 days from sowing to harvest, which makes it the perfect short-term crop to let you get more enjoyment and tasty produce from your EarthBoxes. Here's how to do it:
Prep your EarthBox using one-third to one-half of the standard rate of granular fertilizer in your fertilizer strip, since the lettuce won't require a lot of nutrition. Prepare two rows of 10-12 planting holes each on either side of the fertilizer, for four rows total. This may seem crowded, but remember: you're not growing the plants to maturity. This will maximize the amount of lettuce grown, and will equal approximately six feet of an in-ground row.
Place 5-6 seeds of a nice lettuce mix in each planting hole. After 28 days or so, you can use scissors to snip each group above the cover. With patience, each cut group will regrow and provide more fresh goodness!
One final note: If you decide to grow other baby vegetables, keep these planting guidelines in mind. They're easy to adapt to other popular options. |
| Please Write a Review! | |
We appreciate your opinions about EarthBox products, and so do your peers. Because we recognize how helpful and valuable our customers' viewpoints can be, we would love to receive your comments -- whether positive or negative. So please, don't hesitate to post reviews on the product profiles at www.EarthBox.com.
Here's the process: once you're at the website, click the category on the left column, and then click on the product name. Next, click on "Review this item," and start writing.
Thanks in advance for your help! We look forward to reading the reviews, and improving your EarthBox experience.
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| Fresh from the Forum
Growing Media and Fertilizer
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This time of year, there are always quite a few EarthBox Forum discussions about growing or "potting" media, as growers prep their EarthBoxes for the new season. The most important thing to remember is that there shouldn't be any true soil in whatever you choose. For each EarthBox, we recommend using two cubic feet (60 dry quarts) of a peat-based (70%-80%) medium that contains perlite or vermiculite. It should be light and fluffy when dry, and spongy when wet. It should NOT contain any rock, clay, or sand. You should also avoid using topsoil or compost.
We understand that there are regional differences in the names of potting media; it's often called "potting mix" or even "potting soil." However, we urge you to choose your EarthBox growing media based on the contents, not on product names.
Visit this link for a list of approved brands of growing media, and this link for guidance on fertilizer (scroll to page 2).
If you'd like to ask a question, commune with your fellow EarthBoxers, or just swap recipes, we urge you to join us in the Forum at http://forum.earthbox.com. |
| Retailer of the Month
Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply Stores
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Each month, we at EarthBox salute one of our valued retailers. This month, we honor Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply Stores of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska.
John Murdoch had a vision, which was written on a napkin in a restaurant: his goal was to open a store that would carry homey, down-to-earth merchandise, be a fun place for families to visit, and be an environment where customers are always appreciated.
That was in the early 1990s. Seventeen years and 17 stores later, those goals have been met and surpassed, and continue to be the guiding principles for the Murdoch Ranch & Home Supply Stores. As the name suggests, the stores carry items that ranchers, farmers and equine businesses need, such as livestock feed, riding equipment, power tools, and veterinary supplies.
Lawn and garden supplies and other items for homeowners also line the shelves at Murdoch's. Brand name clothing for men, women and children, craft supplies, and old-fashioned toys can be found there as well.
All Murdoch stores carry EarthBoxes, and this year they'll begin offering the Garden Kit, replant kits, and frost covers. Three of their seventeen stores also have garden centers; those and some of the other locations carry natural gardening solutions, irrigation and watering products, and garden hose products.
The Bozeman Garden Center features an EarthBox brimming with tomato plants, as you can see in the above photo -- an excellent product success demonstration for customers!
Murdoch's serves communities in four states: Montana (4), Colorado (8), Wyoming (3), and Nebraska (1). For more information or to plan a visit, check their website at http://www.murdochs.com.
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| From Our Customers
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"I planted this box on January 22, 2011, but didn't take a picture. This is a picture on Day 7, January 29, 2011.
"The front row and sides have primroses and alyssum, planted as small plants. The back row has lettuce seeds, which have not sprouted yet."
"lizn"
Northern California
Zone 8
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| Join Our Community
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EarthBox is on Facebook! Now you can become a fan of EarthBox, joining a community of fellow EarthBox users for conversations, advice and photo sharing -- or just to check out whatever new information EarthBox has to enhance your gardening experience.
And don't forget to check out our videos! This is a members only feature, so if you're not already a Facebook member, you'll need to sign up to view the videos.
We'd also like to remind you about our forum, which you can find at http://forum.earthbox.com. We'd love for you to weigh in on any EarthBox matters that interest you, and show us how your EarthBox crops are faring this year. And don't hesitate to ask questions, because your fellow EarthBoxers are a wonderful source of information who will gladly help with any of your EarthBox issues!
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| Ordering | |
To place an order, call us at 866-727-5532 (24/7) or visit our online store.
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| About EarthBox
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The patented EarthBox was developed by commercial farmers, and proven in the lab and on the farm. Our maintenance-free, award-winning, high-tech growing system controls soil conditions, eliminates guesswork, and more than doubles the yield of a conventional garden -- with less fertilizer, less water and virtually no effort.
It's used successfully on a daily basis by commercial farmers, educators, and consumers. Distributors are also finding it to be a popular growing system.
EarthBox is a remarkably easy-to-set-up system that can be used to grow produce virtually anywhere. EarthBox systems have been incorporated into community gardens all over the world, enabling families and neighbors to share fresh produce, while minimizing work and expenses.
EarthBoxes can even be found in classrooms. Our EarthBox Pre-K through 12th grade standards-based curriculum can bring science to life, with hands-on cross-curricula lessons that teach principles of growing and nutrition utilizing the scientific method in student-driven experiments.
To find out more, visit www.earthbox.com. To request a catalog, call 888-917-3908. |
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