Celebrate World Water Day with New Keyhole Garden Collection

We think the best way to celebrate World Water Day is to honor the brands that are doing their part to reduce consumption and make a difference. 

Vita Gardens is doing just that. The company is on a mission to help gardeners from North America to Africa grow organic, healthy food in less space with less water. This spring, the company expands its line of Keyhole Gardens with four new portable versions.

Originally developed in Africa as a way to grow food in extreme heat and drought conditions, the keyhole gardening technique works by creating a space for both composting and growing in one raised garden bed. Keyhole gardens use up to 70 percent less water than a typical raised bed and produce more vegetables in a shorter amount of time.

Available for pre-order online, the new line expands on the popular Classic 6x6 African Keyhole Garden Bed by offering the same keyhole garden technology in a variety of sizes and styles. The Classic 4x4, 3x5 and Urban keyhole garden beds provide the same benefits of the traditional bed in compact, portable designs. The minimalist Urban garden comes in a sleek, wood finish with a 10- year warranty while the other options are backed by 20-year warranty.

Eddie DeJong, Vita Gardens’ head of business development and design, says the expanded collection meets the needs of gardeners who are looking to utilize small spaces.  

“The new Keyhole Gardens fit in smaller garden spaces allowing gardeners to grow more food efficiently in a tighter space,” says DeJong. “We want to inspire people by giving them options to grow healthy, organic vegetables, fruit and herbs whether they live on a small plot of land in the city or on several acres in the suburbs.”

For more information about Vita Gardens and its new line of water saving products, visit http://www.vitagardens.com/. 

GMG's Friday Find: A Vertical Gardening Tower That Does It All

The Garden Tower is a revolutionary gardening and composting system developed by a small company with big ideas in Bloomington, Indiana. This system is incredibly efficient utilizing a design that provides the benefits of a self-contained ecosystem. The features and benefits of the Garden Tower include:

* 50 plants in 4 square feet

* Significantly faster growth

* Generates worm-activated compost

* Turns kitchen scraps to fertilizers

* Self conditions and fortifies soil

* 100% recyclable

* Weed-free, accessible and senior friendly

* Reduced watering

Check out this video and see how the Garden Tower system works.

With gardening and sustainability an ever present challenge, we applaud the ingenuity and dedication of the team behind the Garden Tower to empower people toward their own food security. We'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Happy sustainable gardening!

~Peggy
Garden Media Group

GMG's Friday Find: Window Shutter as Micro Urban Garden

When it comes to urban gardening, there may seem to be limited options. Perhaps there is a nearby community garden or outdoor plot, or maybe you have a small balcony with potted tomatoes and herbs. And if you're like many, you may only have a stoop with room for a single plant. Dense urban neighborhoods and high-rise buildings offer little outdoor space for gardening.


French designers Nicolas Barreau and Jules Charbonnet have a clever project called the 'Volet vegetal' that received top honors in May at a design competition in Paris. It is essentially a window draw bridge that holds trays of plants that can easily be let down during the day to catch sunlight, and then drawn back up in the evening into your interior space.

The design includes a sleek plant rack that will hold the plant trays inside to green up your living space. The project is still under way to determine commercializing, and once on the market will provide urban dwellers with a new option for gardening. What do you think of this drawbridge window shutter? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

~Peggy
Garden Media Group