"Growing and harvesting fresh veggies in OurFarmBox takes me back to my childhood. My father used to grow all sorts of veggies in our back garden at home. I had forgotten that home grown veggies taste this delicious"
PHIL DAVIS, BIRCHGROVE, NSW
Our Story
Planting Instructions
1. Set up your box
• Empty your box of its contents and firmly place the screen in the bottom of the box.
• Line up the large hole in the screen over the 3 tapered ribs on the base of the box, ensuring the screen lip overlaps the tabs around the box’s edge.
• Push the filler tube through the large hole in the front corner of the screen until it rests on the tapered ribs below.
• Place the coir block on top of the screen.
2. Prepare your coir block
• Slowly add water to the coir block. When the water starts to run down the sides of the coir, turn the coir onto its side and repeat. Repeat until all four sides are wet and starting to expand.
• Break up the coir block by hand as it absorbs water and expands. Keep doing this until all the compressed coir is loose and well mixed. Try to avoid having any large clumps. You should have a mound shape along the length of the box when the coir is fully hydrated.
3. Activate the growing medium
• Once the coir is broken up and expanded to just above the top lip of the box, push the coir down in the two corners opposite the filler tube.
• Choose the relevant seedling placement pattern based on what you are planting (see planting patterns overleaf). This determines the position of your plant food furrow.
4. Add the plant food
• Create a small furrow either on the side or in the middle of the expanded coir, depending on what you are planting.
• Pour the entire contents of the organic plant food packet into this furrow. Do not mix it into the coir. Add a little water to dampen the plant food.
• Gently bring the coir back over the plant food strip until it is covered. Pat down gently to ensure proper coverage.
5. Cover, secure and cut
• The cover should be fitted dark side up in winter and light side up in summer.
• Place the cut out hole over the filler tube (the hole will stretch to accommodate the tube) and very carefully and gradually stretch the cover over the lip of the box ensuring it is secure on all sides. Take care not to tear the cover.
• Cut a 7cm “X” in the cover with sharp scissors.
Refer to the plant placement patterns overleaf.
• Do NOT cut above the plant food.
6. Plant your garden - from seeds
• Through the newly cut “X’s”, place the recommended number of seeds at the correct depth. A general rule is they should be placed at a depth twice their width.
• Gently smooth the growing medium around and over the seeds with your fingertips.
• For each ‘X’ pull back the flaps of the ‘X’ and water the seeds from the top to remove any air pockets around the seeds. Carefully replace the flaps.
7. Plant your garden - from seedlings
• Through the newly cut ‘X’s in the cover create pockets 7cm deep in the coir substrate.
• Place one plant per hole and firm the coir substrate around the roots.
• For each ’X’ pull back the’X’ flaps in the cover to water the plants from the top to remove any air spaces around the roots.
• Carefully put the flaps back around the stems.
Number of seedlings to plant
Asian Greens 6
Artichokes 2
Beans 16
Broccoli 6
Brussels Sprouts 6 Cabbage 6
Capsicum 6
Cauliflower 6
Celery 6
Chard 6
Chillis 6
Cucumbers 4
Eggplants 2
Flowers 8
Herbs 6
Kale 8
Leeks 8
Lettuce 8
Melons 4
Okra 8
Onions 10
8. Fill the water reservoir
• FiII the reservoir through the filler tube until the water flows out of the overflow hole.
• Place your FarmBox in a space where it will receive at least 6-8 hours of sunlight a day.
• Never remove the cover.
• Keep the reservoir full by adding water approximately every 5-10 days through the filler tube until it flows out of the overflow hole on either side of the box.
Peas 16
Salad Greens 8
Spinach 10
Squash 4
Strawberries 6
Sweetcorn 16
Tomatoes 2
Seedling planting patterns
Single row - 2 per row
Double row - 4 per row
Single row - 4 per row
Double row - 5 per row
Double row - 3 per row
Double row - 8 per row