Wine barrel or smartbox/earthbox for small yard?

7 years ago

I've been letting you all know that I'm moving from an acre+ to a very small place in town.

I still want to have some veges (especially tomatoes and green beans!), but might need something movable to access the sun!

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around some of these hydropnic/type boxes and want to know if I would be better off just getting some wine barrels and learning how to feed them properly?????

Gotta start planting! ancy

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Comments (2)

nbm1981
7 years ago
Hi Nancy!

My garden consists of 12 Earthboxes and 19 whiskey barrels, among dozens of other types of containers.

I won't recommend one over the other - it really depends on what fits your needs and how much work you want to put into it. Just because they're containers doesn't mean they don't require some work. I love both types of growing, but I absolutely adore the Earthboxes. They work beautifully, they're aesthetically pleasing and require very little work if you purchase the optional trellis system and automatic watering system. With that said, they are truly an investment and it can get very expensive to get fully set up with trellises and watering systems if you buy them new from the website. My 12 boxes with staking and automatic watering systems was an almost $1,000 investment, including shipping, which is also very expensive (it was probably close to $150-$200 in shipping costs since I ordered them a few at a time as needed). I do, however, consider it a 110% worthwhile investment when considering the cost and labor associated with building raised beds or preparing the ground to produce the amount of fruits and vegetables I harvest from my Earthboxes each season. You literally set them up once, amend them slightly each spring and that's it. Each box might take 20 minutes to get set up once you get them home, then maybe 10 minutes of prep each spring to add new fertilizer and a little fresh potting mix.

Barrels, on the other hand, are wonderful if you want to hand water or use drip irrigation (preferred). I use the plastic barrels sold at HD and other home improvement stores that are under $20. They allow you to plant deeper, important in the case of tomatoes, and have a large surface area. They work great for herbs, tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash - you name it. They hold plenty of soil for pretty much anything - just make sure you feed and water regularly and you should have beautiful plants with little effort. They're also usually deep enough to support a wooden trellis for vining plants like cucumbers, melon and pole beans.

Everyone has their own opinion on how to feed and water, so I won't offer any of those suggestions here, but using self-watering containers and barrels are great ways to container garden and allow you to grow pretty much anything with little reserve.

Happy gardening!
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for your reply nbm!Pretty much what I wanted to hear!

I think I'm going to invest in a few earthboxes (about $100) and a couple of barrels to see what works best for me. Then next year I can expand (or not, might go to a community garden) Nancy
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Wine barrel or smartbox/earthbox for small yard?

Comments (2)

nbm1981

nancyjane_gardener
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Wine barrel or smartbox/earthbox for small yard?

Comments (2)

nbm1981

nancyjane_gardenerOriginal Author

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nancyjane_gardener
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