Earthbox: A Garden Favorite (and a Giveaway!)

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I have been a backyard gardener for years, and most of my gardening is pretty low-tech. There’s a lot of trial and error that goes into gardening and very few guarantees from year to year, but one item in my garden gives me consistent harvests year after year: my Earthbox.

But ten years ago, I received a Christmas gift from my in-laws that has been a staple in my garden ever since, an Earthbox Garden Kit. I had seen them before at our local hardware store, and I was a big fan of watching Rick Bayless’s Mexico: One Plate at a Time. 

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In one of the episodes, he takes viewers to the rooftop of his Chicago restaurant, Frontera, and there he had an entire salsa garden covering the roof. I was familiar enough with Earthbox to know that this is what he was using, and the garden was amazing!

Earthbox: Easy to Use

For my first season, I tested out the Earthbox by growing tomatoes, one of the easiest things to kill in the summer garden. I had to purchase my own soil, but everything else was included with the kit:

• planter with watering tube
• caster wheels (for easy moving)
• fertilizer
• dolomite
• cover

The instructions tell you exactly how to put the dolomite and fertilizer into the soil, where to plant your seeds or plants(determined by what you’re growing), and how to water. It’s so easy that my kids can do it on their own. 

Earth Box Maintenence

One of the easiest things about using an Earthbox is how easy it is to maintain and care for your crop. Because of the cover over the soil, there is zero weeding.

There have been very few times as a gardener that I’ve ever been able to say this. Ha! And the black cover also helps absorb heat, and the plants love it.

Watering is also incredibly simple. The watering tube is located in the corner of the box, and you simply fill the reservoir until water begins to spill out from below. Once this happens, you know the reservoir is full and your plants have what they need. The plants get their water from the bottom, and you never have to worry about overwatering or wetting the leaves of your plants during watering.

Use Earthbox Every Season

The Earthbox isn’t just for summer veggies. In fact, I use mine almost year round, giving it a little break in the dead of winter. Here are some suggestions of what you can grow in each season.

• Spring– salad greens, kale, beets, strawberries, cauliflower, radishes, carrots
• Summer– tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, corn, beans, peas, okra, eggplant, herbs, cucumbers, melons
• Fall– collards, arugula, brussels sprouts, winter squash, turnips, cabbage, chard, spinach, lettuce
• Winter– garlic (started late fall), spinach, winter greens (this will depend on your climate, of course)

Earthbox even has a recent post on how to use a garden kit to grow indoors during the winter months.

As I type, I have one of my Earthboxes planted with two tomato plants and one watermelon. (I’m a bit of a rebel and tried planting the watermelon between the two tomatoes just to see what would happen… so far so good!) In my second earth box, the squash has just finished up, and I’m about to replant with butternuts for the fall.                               

Easy for New and Experienced Gardeners Alike

The Earthbox is perfect for those who are just getting started with gardening and those who have been growing for years. I have three Earthboxes in my garden now, and I use them all in almost every season.

Have a little gardener in your home? There’s also a junior garden kit, perfect for little hands that want to grow big things. It’s a fantastic gift for a budding gardener.

DIY Earthbox Option

If you just don’t like the look of the Earthbox or happen to have a galvanized bucket laying around, then you’re in luck. I have a full tutorial on how to make a DIY version of a self-watering planter in just an hour. Check out the full tutorial here.

Earthbox Giveaway

Because I love Earthbox so much, and I’d love to see you have one in your own garden space, Earthbox has graciously offered one free Earthbox Starter Set, and you can find the giveaway on my Instagram page! Good luck!