I broke it.

Well, OK, I didn't exactly break it. But it turns out I'm not using the EarthBox in the way it was intended. Remember the black plastic covering from my first EarthBox post? Of course you do. Just in case, here it is again, in the photo to the right. You're supposed to cut holes in it and plant your seedlings through them.

Well, I didn't do that. Because I'm growing baby greens, I figured I'd leave the shower cap off and use the whole box as an open bed. It turns out that the shower cap is kind-of important.

"The cap is definitely necessary for the EarthBox to work any differently than any other container gardening system," says Amy McMillen, program officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization's "The Growing Connection," which uses the EarthBox to help people at schools, orphanages, hospitals, HIV/AIDS clinics, and other places all over the world get access to fresh food.

What's the big deal about the shower cap? There's a reservoir of water at the bottom of the EarthBox that delivers water by capillary action through the growing medium (a.k.a. soil). And there's a trench of fertilizer buried under the mound of soil running down the middle of the EarthBox. (You can see the mound in the photo, left.) "Because of the cover & the loose medium," Amy says, "the water is in constant motion and slowly draws the fertilizer down into the box. As the roots use the water and the fertilizer those pockets of space are replenished with more nutrients. Without the cap this circular water motion does not happen. The water evaporates out and the movement is just south to north….and you’ll use more water."

Oops.

That trench of fertilizer under the central mound is also what has created the dead zone down the middle of the box, clearly visible in this photo. Too much of a good thing killed the seeds that sprouted on the mound.

So, now what?

I could just let it go and see what happens. Or I could put the cap back on with some holes for the seedlings and use the EarthBox like it's supposed to be used. Any suggestions?