You can eat my tomatoes

No salmonella scare in our house. Late this spring, I decided that with the rising cost of food, particularly dairy and fresh fruits and vegetables, I wanted to grow a garden...again. In Kentucky we built a huge fifteen foot long raised garden bed, filled with yummy Kentucky wonder beans, sugar snaps, red, orange, yellow, and green bell peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, cherry, roma, and big boy tomatoes. The entire garden was bordered by marigolds (a natural bug deterrent), cilantro, basil, oregano, and other yummy herbs. It was a delightful summer and I must say I was darn proud of the garden. But then we moved to Birmingham, providing us with only that one tasty summer's harvest and a few failed attempts at winter veggies like broccoli.

I wish our current backyard offered us such a huge space to recreate that garden but we just don't have that luxury. Instead, I created a container garden, modeled after the "Earthboxes" fancy garden stores sell. I found an awesome site called Instructables.com where people post how-to instructions on virtually anything and everything. Included in their stash was how to make fake Earthboxes out of rubber maid tubs. It's not beautifully bordered by wooden garden rails like in Kentucky but we are about to have a huge tomato harvest, along with bush beans to feed the family. I also planted salad greens but only two plants survived what I think was a bird attack. Aunt Lizzy and I enjoyed a tasty gourmet green salad last night with our pasta while Big Philip was away in Starkville.

The Earthbox is $50 which does not include the necessary potting mix and fertilizer. My version of the Earthbox was $22 each and they are weed free and never need any fertilizer added for the entire growing season. If you have a small space and a weak green thumb, this project is super easy and affordable. Let me know if you want me to send the link on how to make these earthboxes!