[youtube width="260" height="210"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGIa5fZrPfU[/youtube]I’m putting out the “Grow Girl” challenge this year. I know it’s still early on in the year for most of you that live in cooler regions, but it’s never too early to start planning and perhaps thinking about how and where you’re going to plant your veggies this year. Aside from the fact that you’ll save money and feel like a hippie goddess harvesting your own greens, the FRESH factor is the the main reason why you’ll want to get growing. Freshly picked (on your plate within minutes of harvesting,) contain all the plant enzymes and nutrients that your body could possibly dream off.
I happen to have an annoying backyard in that there’s not much of a growing area for my garden. I’ve built raised beds in the back of my yard, but they really don’t get enough sun until mid-summer, so I was over-the-moon to meet Joanne Trigo from Two Dog Nursery, who introduced me to the earth box. This is a brilliant design because it houses a 3-gallon water reservoir at it’s base, which insures your babies will be well-watered at all times (even when you forget, or can’t be bothered to drag the hose out). It comes with it’s own soil amendments, which takes the guess work out of how to create the perfect soil – so I can’t recommend it more highly – a truly important investment to your health and well-being.
If you have kids, Earth Boxes are so much fun because they can have their own box and tend it themselves. You can teach them so 
much about what plants need to grow and survive. For example, The Earth Boxes are on castors so you can roll them in and out of the sun. My daughter gets that we have to roll them across my yard to follow the sun in the winter months – or they won’t grow!
When you and your kids really get to understand the work and love that goes into growing just one carrot or beet to full size, you start to regard your food very differently. It gives new meaning to blessing your food before each meal – a traditional act that I’m trying to bring back to our family table.
So the challenge that I’m throwing out there is for you to try to grow at least your herbs and salad greens this year. If you live in an apartment, see if you can find a community garden or if your building will all club together and buy a few Earth boxes put on a small outdoor areas – even a roof top. If you have a small patio or balcony, an Earth Box may be perfect because you can take off the castors and put it on a table. Also, doesn’t have to be Earth Boxes, you can use planters. old coffee or oil drums with drainage holes punched into the bottom – anything.
When you have your harvest, I would LOVE for you to send me photos of you and your herbs/veggies – and someone’s gonna get a
prize! Back in rural England, every summer most country village hosts a Village Fair or Festival with games, and a tent where competitive villagers proudly drop off baked goods, jellies, even massive zucchini’s and cucumbers, to be judged by the “officials”. Well, we’ll do a sort of viral village fair in that when I’ve got a few photo’s, I’ll post them for you all to see and prizes will be awarded accordingly. Never a dull moment at Gorgeously Green!
If you get the chance, visit Two Dog Nursery online, as Joanne has so much valuable and interesting information about how to grow your own and getting the best from your Earth Box.
