I was recently contacted by the creative marketing minds at Edenbox to try out one of their new products, “an allotment in a box”. I love getting free things and parcels of nice stuff in the post, so I readily agreed.

On Friday my own Edenbox arrived. No sooner had I accepted the parcel from the delivery man, I ripped open the box and rummaged around in the eco-friendly packing materials. This is what I found:

The premise of the Edenbox means that you don’t have to go out and buy separate bits and pieces – everything is delivered together and all you have to do is put the right bits in the right places, and use the tools. My Edenbox was the Lettuce variety, and included 6 lettuce plugs (three pairs of different varieties), a big bag of rich compost to fill the coconut husk/coir windowbox, a wooden dibber, a delightful blue watering can, a set of bamboo plant tags (although mine either didn’t arrive or more likely I accidentally threw them out with the box) and a small instruction booklet.

Edenbox also provide their ‘allotment in a box’ with a variety of plant options – lettuce, strawberries, peppers, spinach, tomatoes, carrots and radishes, carrots, cucumbers, herbs, radish, chilli and rocket. All Edenboxes are priced at £29.50 + free delivery for the full kit that I received (FYI, if you choose to purchase an Edenbox you can opt for a blue, orange, pink or green watering can too). Everything supplied, bar the watering can, is biodegradable and that includes the majority of the packaging materials too.

I’m glad to report that the lettuce plugs arrived undamaged, in good health and no wilting in sight. I planted the lettuce plugs within about five minutes, although the one minor mishap that I did experience was when I wanted to pull the cord tighter on the coir windowbox, as the soil had caused it to bulge in the middle and it needed tightening up back into shape. I hadn’t firmed the soil enough and when I tugged it back into shape, all of my plug plants popped out of the soil again, so I had to quickly push them back in – not a huge deal. Essentially, though, the whole process was very easy. I was delighted with all the bits and bobs – everything seemed to had been considerately chosen and I will no doubt use the small watering can and dibber once my lettuces have finished. I’ll probably even find a use for the coir windowbox again as it seems to be robust and can be used outside – although at present mine is sitting indoors on the kitchen windowsill until we finish repairing our wooden sash windows. I’ve watered it pretty well and have seen no leakages as yet through the bottom of the container, so a definite plus point for growing indoors.

Overall, I think the Edenbox is a great idea, especially for those who want a fuss-free way to grow small amount of salads or veggies at home. It’s easy to set up and looks nice and smart, and everything supplied is of very good quality. But I do wonder whether its a very niche market as it’s almost too all-inclusive, as those that might be interested may be put off if they already have a watering can or a dibber to hand, and once you’ve bought it, you only need to replace the soil and plants/seeds. My lettuce plugs were robust enough to take a hearty slosh of water from a drinking glass and although I love my new watering can, I wonder how much the price of the set could be reduced without it. The retail price of £29.50 might also be reduced if you had the option to build your own Edenbox according to your individual needs – for instance, add a watering can, add a dibber, perhaps choose ‘half portion’ sizes of plugs or seeds according to your preferences. At present, you can opt to choose extra tools, such as a hand trowel or fork, but the ‘allotment in a box’ is a fixed set, available only at a fixed price.

For those with limited growing space or grow your own novices, it would made a fantastic gift though and once the supplied plug plants or seeds have finished, many of the bits and pieces can be used again and again. But I think that if Edenbox want to encourage repeat custom then in future they would do well to expand their online shop to include extra plant plugs, customisable Edenboxes and perhaps some innovative vertical growing add-ons that could encourage people to grow climbing plants at home too. But that’s just my imagination getting away with me… as far as I know the business is relatively new and they may well have plans to expand on their current selection in ways that I can’t even dream of!!!

So if you like the look of an Edenbox, are tempted to purchase one for yourself, a friend or loved one, then the good news is that Edenbox have given The Smallest Smallholding readers an exclusive 15% discount off their range of Edenboxes. To claim your discount, all you have to do is add the code justaddwater on the ‘your allotment’ page of the website. To purchase an Edenbox, you’ll need to visit page 2 of the shop here or visit the ‘Create Your Allotment‘ page.