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EarthBox Education: Grow Hope Helps Feed Chicago's Homeless Students
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Did you know that more than 15,000
children in Chicago
Public Schools are homeless? But there's hope: specifically, Chicago HOPES, an initiative that
provides after-school tutoring and enrichment for kids living in at least 25 of
the city's homeless shelters.
EarthBox recently became involved in one aspect of
Chicago HOPES: Grow Hope, a gardening project developed to further aid these kids. It was created by AmeriCorps VISTA
volunteers Dustin Petty and Lynne Christenson, who work in the district's Students
in Temporary Living Situations Department (STLS). The goal of the STLS is to ensure that the rights of the
city's homeless students are protected.
Dustin and Lynne created this venture because they're
both interested in agriculture and optimizing use of natural resources. Grow
Hope's team of 11 is helping the shelters' students and their families get set
up with EarthBoxes, so they can grow their own food.
Ultimately, the EarthBoxes will be maintained by
the residents and community volunteers. All of the sites will begin by growing
tomatoes and green peppers. Then, residents at each site will decide what to
grow next; some considerations are onions, carrots, and herbs. The 'Boxes are situated where the conditions are best for growing: shelter
roofs, side yards and back patios.
This move toward self sufficiency will allow
students to prepare meals from their harvest, and in some cases even
sell the produce at local farmers' markets.
For
information on starting an EarthBox community project of your own, click here
or contact our Education Department at 1-800-821-8838, ext. 8348 or 8369.
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We Have a Winner!
We've chosen the latest winner in our ongoing photo contest!
Fred Rushing of Clearwater, Florida will receive a $25 EarthBox gift certificate for his wonderful photo.
Here's Fred's winning entry, showing that his Big Boy tomato plant really lives up to its name:
We'll be posting more winners as we choose them -- and we're still waiting to hear from you! |
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 x7 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!
We hope you're enjoying this
summer so far, and that your EarthBox gardens are happy and healthy.
This
issue brings you two pieces of exciting news:
First,
our new website, which has been expanded
with a wealth of information and products to help make your EarthBox gardening
even more successful. We hope you'll find it easier to navigate, too.
Also, EarthBox
UK recently won an award at the
prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London,
England! We'll
tell you more about both the award and our new site in the feature article.
Stay
cool,
Frank DiPaolo EarthBox |
| New EarthBox Success Tools -- And More
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Our goal is to help fill your kitchen with EarthBox bounty, and to make it an easy and fun experience for you, too. To that end, we've just revamped our website with lots of helpful new information and products. Here's a quick tour: The Product Info section on our Resources tab is invaluable for those getting ready to plant, as it includes lists of: - Brand names of growing media that will work in your EarthBox
- Recommended fertilizers for EarthBox use
- Dolomite brands suitable for EarthBox use
- Planting instructions
- How-to videos, plus videos of EarthBox gardens worldwide
In the Gardening Info section of the Resources tab, you can: - Visit the Veggie MD for specific how-to information on dozens of vegetables
- Find out what's eating your produce with our bug identification guide
- Determine your planting zone
- Diagnose common plant problems
In the Favorites section of the Resources tab, you'll be able to: - Calculate your own carbon footprint
- Peruse a library of green living tips
- Visit a site with the largest plant database in the world
- Access hundreds of gardening articles and regional growing information
In addition to informational resources, we've expanded our product line for your convenience. In our EarthBox Accessories section, you'll find: - Plants and seeds
- Beneficial insects
- Seed starting supplies
- Sun analyzers
- Bulb planting kits
- And a lot more!
What we've presented here just scratches the surface. We've got plenty more to offer, so we invite you to go take a look! EarthBox UK wins an RHS Certificate of Commendation at the Chelsea Flower Show This year was the first time we've exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society's prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London (on May 25-29), and we were delighted that our stand was awarded a coveted Certificate of Commendation by the RHS. We designed our stand to replicate a small urban patio, with 19 EarthBoxes planted with a selection of plants chosen to demonstrate how much can actually be grown in a small space. For more information about the RHS, click here. You can learn more about the spectacular Chelsea Flower Show by clicking here. We'll be at the Hampton Court Flower Show at Hampton Court Palace in West London from July 6-11, 2010. If you're in town, come and visit us. We'd love to see you there! |
| Fresh from the Forum
Spider Mite Strategies
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While spider mites can be a real headache for gardeners, there are effective methods for getting rid of them. Check out what your fellow EarthBoxers are doing to fight the mite. |
| Retailer of the Month
Corky's Garden Path |
Every month, we highlight one of our valued partners, so that you can learn more about them and their products. This month, we salute Corky's Garden Path in Scott Township, Pennsylvania.
Corky's Garden Path was founded in 1948 by Leo Anderson. He started out with one greenhouse, in which he grew annuals, vegetables, and holiday plants. After a brief retirement, Leo and one of his grandsons, Edward "Corky" Kashuba, restarted the business in 1970. Today, Corky's boasts 22 greenhouses totaling over 40,000 square feet of retail space.
This includes Justus Corners (up the road from the main greenhouses), which comprises a lawn and garden center and eight retail greenhouses. Co-owners Corky and his wife Nancy offer customers an array of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, fountains, and even a gift shop.
Stop by and visit Corky's at:
729 Justus Boulevard
Scott Township, PA
Hours: Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
570-586-9563
www.corkysgardenpath.com |
| From Our Customers
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"I've finally gotten all 11 boxes prepped, with 8.5 planted as of today. Until the plants mature a bit and I get my staking system up, I've grouped all the planted boxes together and wrapped 36" window screen around them. It's attached to bamboo stakes with binder clips. It's all temporary and reusable...the screen does double duty as wind guard and critter barrier."
MamaKat
Prescott Valley, AZ
Zone 7 |
| Join Our Community
| 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.
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| Ordering |
To place an order, call us at 866-727-5532 (24/7) or visit our online store. |
| About EarthBox
| 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 support packages 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 order a catalog, call 888-917-3908. |
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