Nancilee Wydra did a wonderful job of describing how EarthBox sub-irrigated planters (SIPs aka "self-watering") solved her personal gardening challenge and were instrumental in doing some social good.
Read on. Her words are more eloquent than any that I would write.
I live a short block away from the Atlantic Ocean and while there are benefits galore living near the beach, there is one big downside. The soil is sandy and it’s hard to grow vegetables in sandy soil.
Recently I was at a meeting where twenty-eight local charities, gave presentations that determined who would win a $100,000 grant. The organization serving our county’s adult and children developmentally disabled delighted me with its integrative community approach to growing organic vegetables in EarthBoxes, providing a livelihood for their clients, as well as valuable organic produce for our community.
In a nutshell, they proposed to purchase 100 of the patented EarthBoxes outfitted with organic soil. Developed by commercial farmers planting vegetables in the EarthBox has been proven to be the most maintenance-free, high tech growing system. Not only does it controls soil conditions, it eliminates watering guesswork because tubes coming out of the soil, can be used to water the plants and the water falls under the soil in a well with a spillway that enables the plant to absorb the water amount needed, as well as drain away too much rain water. As a result the plants often double their yield over conventional growing.
They didn’t win the grant so I called some friends who funded this endeavor after purchasing six EarthBoxes myself and planting them. In five weeks, I was having fresh eggplant, broccoli and tomatoes and can see that the peppers and asparagus beans are not long behind.
You could duplicate this in an appropriate place in your community. It is transformational because it would not only benefit any organization, but could provide a community’s children a place to pick vegetables and to visit and learn how live food grows. It is something anyone can duplicated in their back yard. It is imperative to teach our children the need to support local food sources, as well as to eat food that is unharmed by chemicals. Learning to respect the natural world that supports our lives as well as the joy of growing is a trend we all should nurture and support. And besides, there is nothing more delicious than biting into a tomato that one has just picked before dinner.
Thank you for posting Multiple Benefits of a Sub-irrigated Planter Vegetable Garden . I read you post completely and really enjoyed it. I will take care of all things told by you.
Posted by: irrigation systems | June 14, 2010 at 03:19 AM