City Picker
A few years back, a friend raved about an Earth Box, a self-contained planting system for vegetables. I’m not sure if they were hard to come by at the time, but I never stumbled across one in any of the garden centers I frequent, or I simply didn’t take the time to look.
Our raised beads spread out across the back of our house in past years, but they were too close together making it challenging to get around them without getting your foot caught between them. When we refurbished our back yard this winter, we widened the path in front of the beds, to make room for our summer pumpkin vines. We added gravel, since part of that area isn’t easily plant-able due to pipes, irrigation shut off valves, the electric box, etc. It was a great place for a chair in the cooler months, with the sun reflecting heat off the side of the house. Hoping to capture that trapped heat for our tomatoes this summer, I went looking for an Earth Box. What I found instead was a City Picker, virtually identical in every way, but almost double in width.
City Picker’s are perfect for urban gardeners, since they are a fully contained system in a portable box. The planting box comes with casters, a ventilation tray, a watering tube and plastic mulch. You can roll it around your patio or deck to maximize sun, while at the same time containing the mess. No need to worry about watering your downstairs neighbor!
Here is our setup:
1.5 CU FT. Organic Potting Mix
Dolomite Lime and Fertilizer
Fully assembled City Picker
Fill with potting mix to about two inches below the top
Add a thin layer of Dolomite
Organic Fertilizer:
Make a two-inch trough in the center of the box
Add three cups of organic fertilizer
Mound Potting Mix:
Cover fertilizer with mix, about one inch above the box
Plastic Mulch:
Cover with the elasticized plastic mulch
Clip in place with the enclosed binder clips
Cut Holes in Plastic Mulch:
Cut a hole for the irrigation pipe
Cut additional holes and plant seeds/seedlings
Ready to Grow
I’ve provided links for the Earth Box and the City Picker for feature comparisons. Please let me know if you’ve tried one in the past, or if you plan to set one up this season.
Pingback: Potting box | Miranda1929
Wow, what a great idea! Thank you for the excellent detailed instructions with accompanying step-by-step photos. It almost makes me think it might actually be possible for me to grow something!
Try tomatoes. They are delicious when you grow your own. The biggest nemesis is tobacco horn worm aka tomato worm, something you can probably avoid with these planting boxes. One of my passions over the summers is pulling a warm, fresh tomato off the vine and eating it on the spot (we grow organic). Yum!
Yes!! There’s nothing like a homegrown tomato eaten immediately after picking! I literally crave them. So far, I’ve yet to plant my own, and have relied on the generosity of my parents’ flourishing crop.
How nice to have a direct source! Our friend Laura’s dad supplied us with some amazing heirloom tomatoes last summer. Once you’ve had tomatoes from a garden, you realize how far we’ve strayed from fresh food in the interest of appearance. Supermarket tomatoes look pretty, but are usually flavorless.
Too early yet for tomatoes, my mom brought us loquats, kumquats, and avocados from their yard when she cat-sat for us last weekend. Yum!
Your mom must have an amazing garden! Does she live close by?
My folks do have a large yard, and just planted their vegetable garden for this season. Everything seems to grow well there. They live relatively close, say, compared to where you live, but at approximately 40 miles, it’s far enough that I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. When oh when will teleportation ever become a reality???
I’m all for teleportation Someone needs to get to work on that, pronto!
Pingback: City Pickers Update: Week Three | gardeningnirvana
Pingback: City Picker Update: Tiny Green Tomatoes | gardeningnirvana
Pingback: Tomatoes and Basil, Together at Last | gardeningnirvana
Hi,
We will be planting a fall garden (lettuce, kale, chard and some herbs) from seed using the City Pickers. We are wondering if you have any advice. Did the mulch cover cause any problems with seed germination? Should we leave it off until the seeds sprout – then cut and add. Or does it work just fine from the start.
Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated!
The City Picker worked well from the start. If you follow the instructions to the letter, you should be successful. I planted seeds on one side, three starter tomatoes on the other. I cut slashes on both side of the plantings (of course I had to do that for the small plants, but I did it for the seeds too. What’s been great is the ability to move it. When my pumpkins started to take over, I simply wheeled it to a new spot. Good luck and have fun!
Great! Thanks so much for getting back to us. I saw the pictures of how you arranged the plants and seeds but wondered how your seed germination turned out. We just received our seeds from Seed Savers Exchange – very excited to see how well these work! Thank you again
You’re welcome. Let me know how you do.
How much soil is required?
It looks like I purchased 1.5 cubic feet (see details on my blog here). I provided pictures and quantities for all the ingredients.
Best of luck.
http://gardeningnirvana.com/2012/05/02/city-picker-grow-tomatoes-on-your-porch-patio-or-deck/
Pingback: You Say ‘Tomato,’ I Say ‘They’re Planted!’ | gardeningnirvana
I like the idea of wheeling around the garden to optimize space or sun that’s really a nice feature. It’s also nice that there’s a plastic cover, keeps the critters out. I’m just taking a little break, all packed, house cleaned…will just quickly edit fridge and Bob’s your uncle. Wew, 14 days of no chores! Only sunshine, hugs and laughter in the forecast xoxo K BTW, at this very moment in Edmonton, it’s doing this: Giant wet snow flakes..more like raining slush. HA
http://easweb.eas.ualberta.ca/camera/camera_high_03.jpg
Weeeee…you’re on your way. One last kiss for Petals and Blossum and you are out of there. Warm weather awaits.
Mwaaaaa. Can’t wait to see you.
SMOOCH!! Jim’s off to bed already and I’m just tying up lose ends. Can you believe it? xoxo sweet dreams xo
Hi! I bought a few City Pickers boxes during winter when they were on sale and am excited to plant tomatoes in 2 of them this weekend. I was wondering how many tomato plants you put in 1 box? I put 9 herbs in my other box and that has worked well, but I’m worried that tomatoes can grow so much! Would you suggest 2? 4? Thank you so much
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for stopping by. Best of luck with your tomatoes. So glad you bought your City Picker son sale.
Last year I planted (thinned) to 4 -6 plants per pot, 3 on each side. It worked out well. Be sure to stake early. I didn’t…and regretted it. It seemed the were five inches, then 24 inches in a matter of a week.
Check back in and let me know how you do.