For city kids, the idea that their fruits and veggies come from the store’s produce aisle isn’t all that unusual. Show your city slickers where their food really comes from with a cool new product called UrbMat, a gardening box designed for small spaces that allows you to grow veggies anywhere. No green thumb required.

The Scoop: 
UrbMat is a three by two feet mat that’s designed specifically for small spaces (think balcony, backyard or deck). The mat lasts up to three years and allows city families to grow their own plants easily with a weed-control layer, built-in irrigation for easy watering, and 12 different types of plants.

With your first shipment you’ll receive GrowUps Seedballs, which are a mix of chili powder, compost, worm castings, clay and non-GMO seeds. These GrowUps ultimately become the 12 different plants that’ll grow in your box—arugula, basil, carrots, catnip, cilantro, chard, lettuce, marigold, parsley, kale, radish, and spinach, all organized and labeled by color.

How it Works:
Simply find an area that has soil or build a box if you don’t have a back or front yard (you can easily get pieces of wood from your local hardware store), lay the UrbMat on top of the soil, and match the GrowUps with each square pushing them halfway down into the soil. Each GrowUp is packed with multiple seeds, which can later be replanted in different areas. Let your kids water the plants and they’ll see how their garden grows.

Bonus: Grow Food, Give Food
With each purchase of an UrbMat, the company donates two meals to kids suffering from hunger in America in partnership with 2 Degrees Food and Feeding America.

Available at UrbnEarth for $69 (non-GMO GrowUps cost $4.99)

Bonus: Red Tricycle readers can score 15% off with promo code REDTRI at checkout. Code is valid through March 21, 2014. 

What do you think of this product that lets city families grow their own veggies easily? Tell us your thoughts below!

Copy and photos by Erin Lem

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