Recent Posts

21

Recipes / Re: Favorite Fall Recipes

« Last post by joni barr on November 05, 2019, 03:52:56 pm »

FRENCH LENTIL SOUP WITH SMOKED PAPRIKA

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup carrot, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup French lentils, rinsed
4 cups vegetable stock
1/8 cup tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped chives, for garnish
1 tablespoon soy creamer

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the oil, onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, paprika, mustard and pepper. Stir, cover, and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften.

Add the lentils, stir, then add the vegetable stock, water, tomato paste, and bay leaf. Increase the heat to bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 35 minutes, or longer if needed, until the lentils are fully cooked through.
Remove the bay leaf. Add the lemon juice, stir, and serve, sprinkling with chopped chives and drizzle with soy creamer.

22

Recipes / Re: Favorite Fall Recipes

« Last post by joni barr on November 05, 2019, 03:48:45 pm »

CREAMY POTATO KALE SOUP

3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 large potatoes, roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups chopped kale, stems removed
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon white miso paste
2 splashes cayenne pepper
black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and potatoes and saute until golden brown (about 8 minutes).
Add vegetable broth, kale and black pepper and simmer for 12 minutes on medium low until the kale softens and becomes a darker green.

Transfer the soup to blender. Puree for 2 minutes or until the soup is completely smooth.
Transfer the pureed soup back the pan and stir in the soy milk, white miso paste, nutritional yeast and cayenne pepper. Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving so flavors blend.

23

Recipes / Re: Favorite Fall Recipes

« Last post by joni barr on November 05, 2019, 03:46:59 pm »

CREAMY THAI ACORN SQUASH CURRY

1 tablespoon oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 medium acorn squash, peeled and cubed
4 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
3 tablespoons red curry paste
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup spring water
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon tamari sauce

Heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the shallots and stir fry until soft and fragrant. Add the acorn squash cubes and stir to coat with oil. Add the curry paste and stir until well-combined.

Add the coconut milk and water and let it simmer over low heat for 20 minutes until thickened. Stir in the spinach until wilted.
Add half of the peanut and cilantro; reserve the rest for topping. Add a quick splash of tamari sauce.

Serve over rice, topped with remaining peanuts and cilantro.

24

Recipes / Re: Favorite Fall Recipes

« Last post by joni barr on November 05, 2019, 03:45:20 pm »

CREAMY MUSHROOM AND LEEK PASTA SAUCE

2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 large leeks stems removed, thinly sliced
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, quartered
3 garlic cloves pressed
1/2 cup clear vegetable broth
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup soy creamer
1 tablespoon dill
1 tablespoon flour
1/8 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
12 oz of your favorite pasta cooked

Cut leeks in half lengthwise and then finely slice. Rinse in cold water to get rid of any dirt in the leek (leeks hide dirt very well). Drain well.

Heat a large pan over medium/high heat. Add 2 tablespoons sunflower oil and the finely chopped leeks. Saute for 2 minutes.


Saute the mushrooms and garlic uncovered, stirring often for 8 minutes or until mushrooms are soft.


Stir in the vegetable broth, soy milk and soy creamer.


Add the dill, nutritional yeast, flour and black pepper. Simmer uncovered another 5 minutes for the sauce to thicken up a little.

Pour over your favorite cooked pasta. This would work over just about any noodles. This was served it over spaghetti squash.

25

Recipes / Favorite Fall Recipes

« Last post by joni barr on November 05, 2019, 01:04:56 pm »

Here is a recipe from one of our customers, Susan R., who loves cooking with vegetables that came from her EarthBoxes.

ACORN SQUASH WITH CRANBERRY RELISH

1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 red onion, diced
1 small apple, peeled and diced
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme
fresh black pepper
Pinch of ginger powder
1 medium acorn squash
Sunflower oil

Heat oven to 425 F.

In a medium saucepan, mix cranberries and orange juice. Bring to a boil over low heat, then simmer for about 15 minutes until cranberries have softened and are starting to cook down.

Add onion, apple and thyme to saucepan, then season to taste with black pepper and ginger powder. Turn heat to medium and cook for another 15 minutes until apple and onion are soft.

While cranberry mixture is cooking, cut acorn squash in half, remove seeds, then cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Put the slices in a large mixing bowl, drizzle with oil and black pepper, toss to coat. Place squash on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes turning half way.

Remove from oven, place on a serving dish and serve with cranberry relish on top.

26

Tips and Tricks / Website Issues

« Last post by joni barr on October 15, 2019, 10:27:14 am »

Customers commonly contact us regarding an issue with placing an order on our website, earthbox.com.
Sometimes all that needs to be done is to refresh your browser, clear your cache and try a different browser such as Google Chrome. You could also try a hard reset (Ctl + F5).

If a reset doesn’t work, follow these steps to troubleshoot:

        Clear your browser history and data in Google Chrome:
              •   By clicking the three vertical dots at the top right, go to Settings.
              •   Scroll down and click on Advanced or More Tools.
              •   Click on clear browsing data
              •   Then, click clear data.

If clearing your history and data didn’t work, or you are receiving any error messages, please contact us at customerservice@earthbox.com.

              Please include in the email: 

               The exact error message.
                 What stage of the buying process are you in? Are you in the final steps, viewing cart, etc. 
                 Date and time of day when the issue occurred. 
                 Using a mobile device, tablet, or desk top computer.
                 Type of credit card. If card which type? Or did you use PayPal instead of a credit card when placing the order?
                 If possible, send screen shots.

It’s been difficult for our IT folks to assist in correcting this issue without the information above. The more information that we have from our customers, the easier it would be for our IT folks to figure out where the problem lies.

Thank you!

27

Questions and Answers / Re: Automatic Watering System Not Working

« Last post by gardendoc on September 27, 2019, 09:53:01 am »

Okijames, this is great information for maintaining the AWS. Thanks for sharing

28

Questions and Answers / Re: Automatic Watering System Not Working

« Last post by Okijames on September 26, 2019, 06:32:33 pm »

Durban,

I've had similar issues, and mine are usually related to hard water clogging the TINY nozzles in the head of each AWS unit.  I periodically pull the 1/8" hose and stick a pin in the barb hole to clear deposits clogging the nozzles.  This fixes the issue every time and I have since placed a finer, carbon block, water filter ahead of the pressure regulator to reduce occurrences. 

Note 1: I blunted the point of said pin to avoid piercing/damaging the rubber diaphragm in the head of the AWS units.

Note 2: I do not actually use the EarthBox supplied 1/8" hose, preferring easier to remove 1/4" silicon aquarium air hose or vinyl tubing.  Being a bit too large for the 1/8" barb these 1/4" tubes can leak, so I cinch them down with a small bit of wire.

Note 3: Hard water deposits after years of use might be better addressed by removing the 1/8" barb plate completely and soaking in CLR.  If you do disassemble this valve head, be sure to note the orientation of the rubber diaphragm so you can reassemble it properly.

Note 4: I also use a 3rd party pressure regulator with ahead of the EarthBox supplied regulator.  Mine is adjustable and has a pressure gauge so I can dial it on for 20-25PSI.

Less frequently, I have found that the clear "down-tube" has been clogged with gunk (once I found a slug had crawled into the tube and had grown large enough to block it).  Removing the down-tube and flushing it with a stream of water fixes that issue.

Hope this helps!

29

Tips and Tricks / Winterizing the EarthBox

« Last post by joni barr on September 20, 2019, 12:26:14 pm »

The end of the growing season is coming up for a lot of EarthBox gardeners. It's a sad time for some. We all know that spring will eventually be back and the planting will begin again. In the meantime,  winter is a great time to think about what could be planted for the upcoming growing season. The seed and plant catalogs will be coming out in late winter.

Remove the Automatic Watering System from your garden if  you are using this system. Drain the tubing as much as possible. Place the AWS in a plastic bag/trash bag for storage inside where it will not freeze. 

To prepare your EarthBox for the winter, cut down your plants and remove debris. Remove the mulch cover. Tip the EarthBox forward towards the overflow hole to remove any remaining water. Leaving water in the reservoir can lead to freezing and cracking the EarthBox. 

There is no need to remove the roots from the EarthBox at this time. The roots will eventually break down over the winter season and are much easier to remove in the spring when you are ready to begin anew.

We do recommend removing the fertilizer strip. Fertilizer salts move towards the top of the box and build up over the season. It is best to remove a layer of growing media above the rim of the EarthBox. Once this has been taken care of, replace the mulch cover to protect the potting media from the elements. It is possible to use a tarp or large garbage bags in place of the mulch cover to cover your box.

Store the EarthBoxes, if you can, at a 45 degree angle to help prevent any melting snow to get into the reservoir. The EarthBox can be stored outside for the winter.

It is not necessary to dump the potting media except if you have had confirmed cases of blight and live in an area that does not get a killing frost. It there was blight, you won't have the months of freezing temperatures to kill it off.  Empty your potting media into a large trash bag and dispose of it if blight has been experienced. Do NOT dump this into your compost or in your yard. The EarthBox can be sanitized by using bleach and water solution. Otherwise, EarthBox recommends using the same potting media for at least 6-8 growing seasons.

Interested in seeing this in pictures? Please check out the attachments.

30

Questions and Answers / Re: Blossom End Rot on Peppers

« Last post by wolfstone636 on September 05, 2019, 07:15:24 am »

Thanks for your reply. I have had this problem for several seasons during which I had always added the recommended amount of dolomite. I think that I need to increase the amount of dolomite that I add in the spring. Any suggestions?