Inside Urban Green

An EarthTainer Garden As of June 2010

An EarthTainer is a do-it-yourself version of the EarthBox made from a 31-gallon tote box. It is a creation of Ray Newstead a professional engineer living in the Silicon Valley, California.

These photos are of Ray's sub-irrigated planter (SIP) garden as of this month. He claims that the plants got a delayed start because of unusual rainy weather this spring. Looking at the photos who would know?

He posted them on the widely read Tomatoville Forum. There are many more photos on the forum if you need even more evidence that SIPS are a highly efficient and productive way to grow fresh food whether you live in the city, suburbs or country. 

All you need are SIPs, sun and a water supply. You don't need a green thumb or tillable land.  

Lifehacker: Most Popular DIY Projects of 2009

via lifehacker.com

We love DIY projects here at Lifehacker. Whether we're building computers, backyard projects, or turning office supplies into artillery, we're always tinkering. Today we're taking a peek at the most popular DIY projects of 2009.

Everything you need to know about the EarthTainer and how to produce fresh food for yourself, your family and your neighborhood while saving water and time is right here at this EarthTainer information site. Also: Earthtainer.org

Prior posts: EarthTainer

via lifehacker.com

If you'd like to have delicious home-grown tomatoes but lack a garden to grow them in, you'll definitely want to check out this ingenious and inexpensive self-watering system.

Ray Newstead, silicon valley executive by day and gardening aficionado by night, wanted a more efficient way to grow tomatoes. He was tired of the wastefulness of having to deeply water large areas of soil to make sure his plants were well watered, along with the hassle of weeding all the nuisance plants that sprung up between his beloved tomatoes. His solution was to create a simple self-watering container from readily-available and cheap hardware store buys.

Ray estimates the system consumes 75% less water than his in-ground tomatoes, and because of the way the water is stored within the planter, it requires radically less fussing. As an added bonus for apartment and condominium dwellers, the planter is easy to move and rotate for consistent sun exposure in small places. More information, including a video and plans, at the link below.

As High as an Elephant's Eye

The corn is as high as an elephhant's eye (and so are the tomatoes) in these jumbo EarthTainers. Thanks to Matt's comment link yesterday, I now know about Ray Newstead's website...and so do you.

..if it can be applied in cars, why not to grow vegetables.

Not too many years ago there was abundant space and unlimited water available for gardening.  Today, with our postage-stamp size yards and increasingly scarce, rationed water resources, a new paradigm for water management by the home gardener has come to the forefront.

Traditional in-ground planting with “broadcast” watering is highly inefficient, along with creating an unintended weed bed to cope with.  Result: higher water bills coupled with back-breaking labor in pulling weeds and constant cultivation.  Then consider a Hybrid alternative.  The demand for multi-use energy sources such as solar and wind, plus the huge growth of dual fuel automobiles has sparked innovation in combining the best of hybrid technologies.  The same opportunity for improved efficiency and plant yield exists in new growing environments for the home garden.

Jumbo Grow Boxes

 

The majority of home made sub-irrigated grow boxes are made from two 14 or 18 gallon Rubbermaid tote boxes.

These sizes aren’t big enough for Ray Newstead, an electrical engineer in Campbell, CA. He has become a gung ho advocate of 31 gallon grow boxes he calls “EarthTainers”.

The EarthTainer is well documented on the web. This is an article about Ray and this is his detailed description of making the boxes on GardenWeb.com. If you have doubts about whether these grow boxes work, his photo set is well worth reviewing.

These 31-gallon planters have a 10-gallon reservoir, which is significantly larger water capacity than the smaller versions. The last time I priced theses boxes the 18-gallon size was $7 and the 31-gallon Roughneck tote was $12. The larger one is 8” longer, 4” wider and just 1” deeper.

One box instead of two

Note that most of the DIY boxes, including Ray’s, are made from two tote boxes. The Rooftop Gardens Project design uses just one box and in my opinion, it's easier to make. All you need is a box cutter or sharp paring knife.

Where are the mainstream garden sites?

Obviously these sub-irrigated planters work extremely well but you would never know it judging by the lack of information on the “mainstream” gardening sites and more popular gardening blogs.

The editors, writers and bloggers are either rather ignorant of current events or have some unknown bias. I can think of no other reason. Can you?