Congratulations and thank you for purchasing a Garden Anywhere Box. This is your first step to an easier way to garden. No weeding. Automatic watering. Portable.
If you have had trouble gardening in the past, this is also your first step to becoming a successful gardener. You will not be able to claim brown thumbs for very much longer.
First, you should read the instructions that come with your GAB.
Next, get your 2 cubic feet of potting mix to fill your box. Potting soil will not do. Be sure and get potting mix.
Be sure and pack the potting mix into the wicking chambers. Add a bit of water to wet and then continue to fill the box. Water every couple of inches until you reach about two inches from the top. Add dolomite and fill the GAB the rest of the way. Add the strip of fertilizer, the plastic and the ring to hold it in place and you are ready to plant.
Once you are ready to plant, it is up to you and the season to determine what you want to plant. We have a suggested planting guide on our website. These are just suggestions. Feel free to experiment with your GAB. It is tempting to over-plant your box. We have done that. Sometimes it works great and other times, it's too much. We have found that two tomato plants to a box is plenty plus an herb or two in the front of the box. You could also plant a tomato, pepper, cilantro and a few onions for a salsa garden. We recommend getting our 3 box Starter Kit which comes with three boxes and our exclusive watering system. Once you realize that you can be a successful gardener, one box is never enough. :)
Seeds or plants work just fine, but some small seeds like tomatoes, should be started indoors to allow them to get a bit bigger and hardier before putting them outside to grow.
When buying plants...or seeds...look for the best quality. Your GAB is designed to work. You should be successful, but part of that depends on the quality of your seeds or plants. We've had great luck with Bonnie plants and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
Once your box is planted, be sure to water from the top for a few days to allow time for the water to wick up from below. It should not take long, but to be on the safe side, check your plants from the top. When you see that they are getting water, you should be fine. Just remember to check the water level by filling the white watering tube. When the reservoir is full, water will come out the drain hole on the side.
If the weather is cool, your plants won't need as much water. You should only have to water every few days. If it is hot and you have big, thirsty plants, you will need to check your boxes daily. If, however, you have our GAB watering system, you won't have to worry about watering again. :)
One of the great things about Garden Anywhere Box, besides the "no weeding" part, is water conservation. GAB uses up to 70% less water than a traditional garden. The plastic not only keeps the weeds out, it keeps the moisture in. The plants take just the amount of water that they need through their roots. No more over-watering from the top. No more watering the weeds because there aren't any. GAB is perfect for places who are suffering from drought conditions, but it's just a good idea to conserve water anyway. Why water what you don't want watered?
Like I said, getting a Garden Anywhere Box is the first step to becoming a successful gardener. The next step is to educate yourself. Read my blog post about Garden Anywhere Box Rules. There are not many rules, but there are a few. Read books about gardening. Learn about companion planting. Learn about when to plant what. Learn about bees and how to attract them to your garden. If you do not see bees, your plants will not be pollinated. Learn about Mason bees and how to attract them to your garden.
Learn about pest control. Yes, there will always be bugs in the garden, but you can learn what to plant together or what sprays work to deter the bugs. Pour over seed catalogs in the winter and dream about spring. Read my blog posts and follow GAB on FB to get the latest recipes, gardening tips and harvest pics.
If you have a greenhouse or a place indoors with warmth and light, you can garden year round. Because the boxes are portable, you can bring your garden inside for the winter and keep gardening. I believe that you should consider buying or making a greenhouse. Even a small greenhouse will be able to fit three GAB's and allow you to garden year round.
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We are going to try again this fall. Something different. Stay tuned for pictures.
Above and to the left is a picture of our first greenhouse. I loved it. There was a place for everything. The next picture is a part of our greenhouse after the 2010 tornado. Part of it ended up in the front yard and one piece javelined into the side of our house.
The picture to the right is our (third attempt) little hoop house. We want to build something a bit sturdier and attach it to the house. We hope that this will give it protection from the wind. If at first you don't succeed...or live in Oklahoma...try, try again.
This is our current greenhouse. It is attached to the house. This helps to shield it from the strong Oklahoma wind. Larry built it out of pvc pipe and plastic. It's not fancy, but it's functional.
After several attempts at having a greenhouse, my advice is to build one that attaches to your home. I love being able to walk right out my laundry room door and into my greenhouse in the middle of winter.
I would also advise not to build a huge greenhouse that you will have trouble heating. We heat our greenhouse with a gas heater. Before we had that, we used a propane heater. In my opinion, unless you are trying to grow tomatoes and peppers all year round, you do not need to keep your greenhouse hot. You will need to keep it above freezing, but most of the cool weather crops like it cold.
I discovered a device called a Thermo Cube on Amazon. This is an outlet that plugs into your electrical socket. You plug your heater into the Thermo Cube and it regulates the temperature. It allows your heater to come on when the temperature reaches 35 degrees and shuts off automatically when the temperature reaches 45 degrees. This keeps things from freezing, but does not use heat unnecessarily.
So, this is my basic advice for successful gardening in a GAB. If you have any questions or something is just not thriving, don't hesitate to contact me either by phone, email or FB. We are a family-owned and operated company. We care about your success. If there is a problem, we want to know so that, together, we can fix it. Garden Anywhere Box is committed to helping you discover an easier...and successful way to garden.
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