Get Your Garden On This Winter!

I can't even tell you how many times this summer I was overjoyed to just hop out to my garden and pick what was for breakfast or lunch or dinner. It was pure joy to eat what we grew in our own garden from organic seed. Now that fall has settled in, the garden is withering up. But, thanks to my new GrowBox, I get to continue to pick my food this winter!

The GrowBox container garden fits neatly on any patio or deck and features a cut-out planting guide that shows gardeners exactly where and what to plant. Just in time for fall planting, The GrowBox container growing system is now available in four new designer colors—Cauliflower, Celery, Eggplant and Lime. (The classic colors, Terra Cotta and Dark Green, are still available.)

The GrowBox planter was designed for busy people who want to grow fresh vegetables without all the work of a conventional garden, but I love it for continued gardening even through fall and winter. Each GrowBox system includes the patented Nutrient Patch™ cover that automatically adds fertilizer as the plants need it. How awesome is that? Inside the planter, a 4-gallon water well adds water at the correct rate so plants never dry out. Yes!! Best yet, the entire system can be set-up and growing in about 15 minutes. Is this a winner or what?

I was so excited to be sent a GrowBox to try out! The GrowBox was very easy and fun to set up. All I had to do was get some potting mix and then follow the step by step instructions and pictures that showed me how to do it. 

First, you remove some plastic pins inside the box to use later on. Then you firmly snap the top part of the box onto the bottom water-retaining section. Two plastic pieces in the top box bend into the bottom tray and snap in place. Then I filled those areas with potting mix, packing it into the bottom tray. The water in the bottom tray will wick up into these packed in sections of potting mix and water the plant in the tray above. Ingenious! 

Next I filled the top tray half-full of potting mix and soaked it down with water. After that I poured all the remaining potting mix that I had into the top until the box was full of the potting mix and soaked that down with water again. Then it was time to put the Nutrient Patch cover on.  I spread it across the top of the box and then gently lifted the corners up and sprayed the nutrient patches with water to help them dissolve. Then I gently laid the cover back down. 

Now it was time to plant! Since we use a lot of tomatoes and herbs in our house that's what I decided to grow in the box. There is an easy-to-follow chart that shows what plants to plant on which numbered spot on the cover. I used some seeds we had left over from when we planted our garden in the spring.

I cut a 1 inch round hole in the #16 spot, dug a small hole in the potting mix with my finger, and then planted 3 tomato seeds in the hole. When they come up, I'll thin them down to 1 healthy tomato plant. Then in the other side of the box I planted some herbs in the same way: 2 Cilantro plants, 1 basil plant and 1 spinach plant. Now all I have to do is simply add water in the front hole and keep the water reservoir full. That's it! How easy is that? The nutrient packs on the top last for the life of the plants so there's no need to add any fertilizer as the plants get older. I can't wait to see the plants peek up out of the soil and taste the yummy tomatoes, basil, spinach and cilantro that grow from my amazing GrowBox!!

Don't be sad that summer is over! You can still plant small plants in individual pots (we are doing that with more herbs) or use your own GrowBox. We plan to bring ours in the house in our sun room when it gets too cold outside. Enjoy fresh food straight from your garden all year long!

Cara was provided product to review. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed are 100% her own.