A garden in a box.

• Position: What's New? - The Earthbox - Brief Article

* Billed as "The Garden of the Future," the Earthbox promises higher yields, minimum maintenance, and environmentally friendly gardening. From our initial crop, inventor Blake Whisenant may just be right.

The process starts with a window box-like plastic container measuring about 30" x 14" x 10" with a drain hole in the side. Accompanying it are a plastic screen, perforated support grid, and a bag of accessories, plus step-by-step instructions that are to be praised for their brevity and clarity. To activate the garden, insert the screen, press the fill tube through its front corner, and, if the plants will need support, insert 5"-high stakes through each end of the screen and secure them to the box's rim with cable ties. Pack the rear-corner cutouts in the screen with potting soil and pour water through the filling tube until it runs out the drain hole. Add potting soil on top of the screen until the box is half full; sprinkle it with water and gently tamp it down; and fill the box to the top, patting down the potting soil after watering it, shaping it into a slight mound down the center.

The next step is to choose a plant and fertilizer pattern, following the enclosed chart, and, once the fertilizer is laid in a two-inch-wide stripe, cover the box with a stretch-plastic...