What should I grow in my Earthboxes this year?

So I prepped three Earthboxes yesterday, now it's time to decide what goes in them. Here's what I've been successful and not successful at in the past:

SUCCESSFUL
Lettuce/arugula-- probably will devote two boxes' worth to salad greens, because I love being able to go pluck a salad right before dinner. When season is over, will replant same boxes with tomatoes. Also going to try some cavolo nero this year.
Basil-- one or two plants is a fine companion all through summer
French breakfast radishes-- loved these last year

NOT SO SUCCESSFUL
Strawberries-- decided these really weren't suited to a box, they need more than one year to establish, I got about six tart berries.
Peas-- I'd consider trying these again but didn't get much yield for the space. But would try again if I knew a way to have better results.
Swiss chard-- Never came up at all.
Rosemary-- didn't have that much flavor, surprisingly.
Mint, summer savory, verbena-- didn't use them enough to justify space devoted to them.

Anyone have a suggestion of something that really worked well for them that I should try?

For what its worth, I haven't really noticed much difference in the productivity or quality of lettuce or herbs that I grow in an earthbox versus that of a normal container. I try to reserve my Earthbox/SIPs for plants with heavier nutritional needs like fruiting plants. I have enjoyed great success with Tomatoes(obviously), Eggplant, Chilies and Peppers, Cucumbers, Pole beans and bush beans.

I have had some bad luck with Zucchini and Summer Squash due to powdery mildew - but some other people I know have done real well with it.

Not sure if potatoes would be a good candidate for earthbox planting since the yield is going to be underground, but they don't need a ton of space. Last year, just for fun I planted 4 fingerling potatoes that had sprouted. I planted them in my tiny little garden in the backyard. They were low maintenance and each potato yielded 8-10 of the most delicious potatoes I've ever had.

I've never purchased potatoes at a farmer's market so my only frame of reference is a grocery store potato. Freshly pulled from the ground, steamed, buttered, salt & peppered...outstanding.

I had really good luck with pole beans last year in my homemade SIP. I prefer to grown them at home, so I can pick them very small. This year, I have a bunch of shishito pepper starts along with tomatoes. I am hoping that the Shishitos really catch on as I spent a small fortune on them at Green City.

I'd try the swiss chard again - I love it, but I do notice some seeds never make it - last year I started seedlings indoors and had better success - at least I didn't waste space on dead seed. (I think Meineke's has seedling chard)

I was really happy with my 4 Summer Pascal celery plants last year (also Meineke's) though I really only needed one; it was cut-and-come-again and did just fine - if you're interested, I'll be happy to split a cell-pak with you. They remind me a bit of Chinese celery - they're thinner, greener and more intense than grocery-store celery.

I also had great luck with watercress last year - found seeds at Whole Foods and they were perfectly happy in my slightly shady garden patch. I had no idea you didn't need a pond or water to grow it; it does just fine as long as it's well-watered. Both arugula and watercress might be overkill for peppery greens, though.

I always plant two hanging baskets of flatleaf parsley; I've decided I can never have too much. I used to do cilantro, but have tried dozens of varieties and have given up because they all bolt - I use lemon or lime basil instead.

I'd agree with Wheattoast on this one. Fruiting plants is really where the EBs show their stuff. Tomatoes are great and should be transplanted next week or so (May 15th) to ensure a crop later this summer. Any later, you'll pushing it (depending on the variety). I've had great success with Eggplant, though I prefer the Japanese variety (for grilling). Peppers are a favorite - both sweet and hot. I liked my green beans last year. I really liked the 15 lbs of cucumbers I got last year but make sure you have a trellis for those. I planted the "Diva" variety (all female plant) and they did great. I had the powdery mildew problem with zucchini in the past as well so I'm less inclined to go that route.

What I've done in the past is plant my lettuces/chard/spinach/escarole in one box, enjoy the bounty in the spring, then pull it and replace with herb seedlings. Basil, oregano, sage, parsley all did much better than my regular containers. Chard is best transplanting in the EBs but it's getting warmer and it should have been planted about a month ago. You could try it again towards the end of the year with kale and it'll do great into November.

Best of luck.

tyrus -

Have you run into powdery mildew issues with Zucchini and Cucumbers? The last 2 years I have, and I think i may have to resort to some type of spraying this year.

Wheattoast wrote:tyrus -

Have you run into powdery mildew issues with Zucchini and Cucumbers? The last 2 years I have, and I think i may have to resort to some type of spraying this year.

I've had it on my zucchini both of the years I planted it. I've heard that some people will start the zucs as early as possible, harvest flowers and the early zucchini and when the powdery mildew hits, they'll pull it and start over for a late summer crop. I've had better success with the cucumbers. No powdery mildew last year on my Diva cucs but had it on my Romanesco Zucchini. I had them spaced far enough apart as well. I recommend the Diva Cucs - they're a hybrid and perfect for rooftops because they don't need pollination. You'll need a trellis though. I built this one last year (upper left hand side):


Another pic a couple of weeks later:



I tried spraying with an organic homemade remedy the first year (as did the other greenroofgrowers) with no luck. I'm not sure it actually works. Best of luck.