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The grow-your-own food gardening trend is far from cancelled for would-be gardeners who don’t have a spot of soil in which to plant. All that’s needed is a container to grow in. And thanks to a range of products from Smart Pot, the fabric container alternative, hopeful gardeners with as little as a sunny patch of sidewalk or as much as a full apartment rooftop can plant and harvest as the weather permits. It’s time to unpack your milk crates from storage and put them to use. Grow a garden simply and easily within a fabric-lined milk crate. Put Milk Crates to Gardening Use The Milk Crate Liner from Smart Pot in particular is well-suited to gardening situations in urban areas or are in tight-fitting spots. As its name implies, the Liner simply fits inside a milk crate to hold the growing media, acting as the container. The crate provides the structure. And because they have a repeatable size and shape, a milk crate garden can be stacked and moved and replicated as your needs and space change. The reliability in size and shape also makes calculating the amount of potting mix needed a snap. Just determine the volume of soil based on the dimensions of the crate. Smart Pot offers two sizes of Milk Crate Liners to fit commonly used 12-in. tall crates: 12-in. x 12-in. square = 1 cubic foot 12-in. x 18-in. rectangle – 1.5 cubic feet Benefits of Growing Above Ground in Milk Crates In the case of milk crates, the benefits of growing above ground in these containers are four-fold: The crates are easy to move even when filled with soil, They fit together squarely to offer lots of growing space in a small are, The Milk Crate Liner allows for maximum drainage and airflow to the roots enabling plants to thrive, and The crate garden can be stacked on top of empty crates to limit the amount of bending and kneeling to ground level Growing above ground in general, not just in milk crates but also in raised beds, window boxes, patio containers and a range of other vessels, is good for the garden and good for the gardener. Here are just a few of the ways growing your veggies and flowers in above-ground containers can be a benefit : Garden where there isn’t any ground. Only a sidewalk, deck or driveway? Containers let you put growing soil where there isn’t a space to plant in-ground. Grow in iffy ground. Maybe your soil is filled with toxins, unknown materials or construction debris. Bring in your own and keep it separate from what’s might be contaminated. Protection from pests. Underground pests can eat away roots and cause plants to fail. Make accessing your crops that much more difficult for them. Garden with the weather. Your ability to move crate and container gardens allows you to plant your crops earlier and harvest later—just move the gardens into a protected space when the weather is too cool outside. Now that you know all about growing in containers and crates, scour your basement and unpack those books to free up your new growing containers (or order some online) and get your Milk Crate Liners today. You can be gardening before you know it!

Gardening above ground opens up possibilities of fresh veggies and beautiful flowers to so many new and veteran gardeners. They are turning to a range of alternatives to in-ground garden beds, such as a window box three stories up or a raised bed on the back patio, to solve a variety of gardening issues. What sorts of issues, you ask? We have rounded up a five issues that find their answers in the form of the Urban Raised Bed from Smart Pots and other above-ground gardening alternatives. Garden Where You Have No In-Ground Space Living in a condo complex, a densely populated neighborhood or a spot that offers no private sun-filled yard? Raised beds give you the ability to hold soil anywhere where there’s a surface to place it. Turn a sunny paved spot in the driveway or condo balcony into a veggie-producing garden or a flower-filled place for pollinators. Grow Where the Soil is Suspect Many soils surrounding homes—urban and otherwise—have unhealthy levels of contaminants from construction debris, previous industrial use and other reasons. Raised beds allow you to easily and safely grow in the space by holding soils of known origin. Protect Plants from Underground Pests Keep grubs, nematodes, slugs and other soil-living, plant-destroying pests at bay by cutting off underground and soil-surface access to your garden. Raise Your Garden to a More Convenient Height In-ground gardens require lots of bending and kneeling to care for the plants. The Urban Raised Bed brings the garden’s soil up 18 inches so plants are far easier to access. Garden Above Ground With the Seasons The sun moves across your space with the seasons. Where the light is strong and perfect for cool-season crops may be too intensely sunny for summer growing. Move a raised bed to the perfect spot depending on the conditions—and that might even be in garage or basement for winter growing. How the Urban Raised Bed Can Help The Urban Raised Bed addresses each of these gardening situations. Unlike the other fabric products from Smart Pots, the Urban Raised Bed is designed for a semi-rigid structure with the insertion of 1-in. PVC lengths (not included). This framework allows the Bed to hold far more soil and plants than if it was unframed. The Urban Raised Bed comes in two sizes: 24-in. by 48-in. by 18-in. tall, holding approximately 13.5 cubic feet of soil 48-in. by 48-in. by 18-in. tall, holding approximately 27 cubic feet of soil The fabric comes with sleeves into which the piping can slide for easy assembly and is ready for planting within minutes. And with its durable fabric, it’ll last for years. Growing a garden is indeed a possibility for you this season! And now that you know you grow above-ground, you can start planning and planting. Head over to your favorite garden center or online store to obtain your Urban Raised Bed and look forward to blooms and harvesting edibles in just a few weeks.