Grow An Organic Garden In A Burlap Sack

There are a myriad of health and environmental benefits to growing your own organic food.

Not only does organic gardening help reduce the introduction of pesticides and chemical fertilizers into the soil and waste supply, it also helps reduce the carbon emissions normally produced when transporting produce from farms to the grocery store.

Finding the space in which to grow your own organic veggies and herbs, however, can be a difficult task. Millions of people live in cities and towns where outdoor space is severely limited, or in apartments and condominiums that might have rules about digging up the lawn.

The Grow Pillow is a new alternative to container gardening. Its flexible design creates a portable urban garden in the smallest outdoor space, or a productive vegetable and herb garden on any sunny surface.

Grow Pillow replaces the expense of plastic and ceramic containers and the bulky rigid frame structure of raised beds with a natural burlap pillow. This open-weave fabric creates an attractive natural looking container. Plants thrive in this ideal growing environment. With the Grow Pillow’s unique growing mix, you’ll grow the perfect tomato in the smallest space, or create an organic garden for the family without digging, lugging heavy bags of soil or constructing elaborate raised bed frames.

What’s In The Bag?

The word “organic” gets thrown around a little too freely these days, especially with regard to gardening products. That’s why it’s good to know exactly what the folks at Grow Pillow are putting in their potting mix:

Compressed Coconut Fiber (Coir) is becoming increasingly popular with commercial hydroponic growers. Unlike peat moss, which is mined, coconut fiber is a renewable resource. It is 100 percent organic, pH neutral and offers excellent water and oxygen retention.
Perlite, a naturally occurring siliceous rock which, when heated to 1600°, expands up to 20 times its original volume. The exceptional physical properties of the coarse perlite in the Grow Pillow kit add porosity to the coconut fiber, creating an ideal growing medium.
Earthworms are living compost factories. Their droppings are one of nature’s most perfect organic fertilizers. Worms consume a rich organic diet, containing a wide variety of minerals and trace elements. Earthworm castings are the perfect compliment to the Grow Pillow’s coconut fiber and perlite base medium.
The Grow Charge contains time-released essential minerals and a premium quality slow release organic fertilizer with mycorrhizal fungi. These beneficial fungi form a symbiotic relationship by living on the plant’s roots and dramatically increasing its supply of nutrients.
For centuries, the coarse fiber of the jute plant has been woven to produce burlap sacks for transporting and storing food products. Adapted as a growing container, the natural open-weave of burlap allows air to circulate, encouraging plant growth and naturally air-pruning the roots.

Also Check Out:
Organic Gardening 101
10 Ways Organic Gardening Is Like Good Business
Organic and Pesticide Free…Not So Fast

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Virginia C.

8:30PM PDT on May 24, 2012

Lots of us have grown food crops in burlap bags for years! Just put the bag where you want it & fill with soil, you can lay it on its side {just wrap the end to close it with zip ties, wire, etc} ., you can stand the bag on its end, add a small amount of soil & plant your potatoes, as the 'taters grow just pinch off the bottom branches and add more soil as as needed. {Potatoes will grow all along the stem if it is under the soil;. {pinch off the branches that will be covered by soil or you might have a problem with rotting} Anyway, you can get twice as many taters than if they are planted tradionally. You can sometimes get sheets of used burlap from large nusery companies.
You can also grow quite a lot in a bale of straw or hay, leave it wired up, dig or cut a little bit of the straw out of the middle, add some soil, plant....water with manure tea and epsom salts every few weeks. {3 TBSPS epsom salts to 1 gal warm water}

send a green star

Kat D.

9:01PM PDT on May 18, 2012

clever and cute, etc., but what are we supposed to do with the handy "disposable" PLASTIC inflation bag and bags from the worm casings, etc.????

Debbie C.

4:51AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

What a cool idea!! I wonder what type of plants you'd put in them.

Carol C.

12:19PM PST on Jan 23, 2012

What a great idea!

Jane W.

10:50AM PST on Jan 22, 2012

thnx for this - I'd never heard of grow bags

Judy M.

9:21AM PST on Jan 21, 2012

This is a cool idea I will try it, my guess you can use any potting soil, any kind of material, like old cotton towels, anything that will keep the weeds out. Sure beats digging, planting, bending and pulling weeds.

Melinda offline K.

1:24AM PDT on Aug 21, 2011

Based on this we could all easy reuse potato sacks and any hessian bag we buy things in. Much better than the dreaded plastic plant pots that are everywhere!

Nanette A.

5:29PM PDT on Jul 11, 2011

That is a pretty cool idea. Seems like you could buy your burlap bags, add your own organic soil and be good to go :)

Kerensa M.

12:00AM PDT on Jul 11, 2011

Might give that a try. :)

Tiffany D.

8:58AM PDT on Jul 6, 2011

Hmmm, looks to have quite a few plastic bags... disposable as the video says. I'm not so sure about their claim to have an attractive container, and I hate the elevator music on the video.