FAQ
Questions, answered
Everything people ask us before requesting boxes, while growing, and when writing grants. If yours is not here, write to us — the answer will probably end up on this page.
How do we get boxes for our organization?
Fill in the request form on this site. Tell us who you serve and roughly how many boxes you need — an estimate is fine, we build to order. Someone replies within about a week and delivery usually lands two to four weeks after we confirm the details. Boxes are free; we do not invoice partner organizations.
Who qualifies for donated boxes?
Community centers, shelters, schools, senior centers and food programs in New York City. If you are not sure whether your organization fits, ask — the honest answer is that we have never turned down a group that serves people who would use the boxes.
What is actually in the box?
A ceramic pot, organic non-GMO soil and seeds — mint first, with basil, chives, oregano or parsley as alternatives — a drainage tray, and a printed growing guide in English and Spanish that covers the first thirty days day by day.
I have never grown anything. Will it survive me?
That is who the box is designed for. Mint is close to the most forgiving plant there is: it wants a bright window sill, water when the top of the soil feels dry, and to be cut often. The guide tells you exactly what to do and when, and the kit-care page on this site turns your planting date into a schedule you can put in your phone.
How long does a box keep producing?
Mint is a perennial. Kept lightly harvested and fed a little after the first six weeks, a box keeps producing for a year or more indoors — it slows in midwinter and comes back with the light. The more you cut, the bushier it grows.
Do you sell the boxes?
No. MintBox is a nonprofit and every box is donated — more than 2,000 so far. In our first years we sold early runs at the Union Square Greenmarket to fund materials; that era funded the tooling, and donation has been the model since.
Can we get materials in Spanish, or in accessible formats?
Yes. The growing guide ships in English and Spanish — five illustrated steps with a QR link — we teach planting in person in both languages, and this website works in English, Spanish and Chinese. Through our partnership with VISIONS we are developing materials for blind and low-vision growers — say what you need on the request form and we will plan for it.
How are students involved — can I join?
MintBox is entirely student-run: high schoolers do the CAD, the woodworking, the curriculum, the deliveries and the books, and leadership hands over as people graduate. If you are a student in New York, apply through the join form — no experience needed, most of us learned everything on this project.
We received boxes a while ago and have not handed them all out. Are they still good?
Seed keeps for roughly six to nine months in storage. Use the shelf-life checker on the kit-care page: enter the delivery date and it tells you the plant-by window. Past it, plant a few as a test before distributing the rest — germination drops off rather than stopping.
How do we know your impact numbers are real?
Every number on this site is stored once, carries a plain-language definition of how it is counted, and shows the date it was last checked. Where our records are still being reconciled — the 2024–2026 year-by-year box counts — the impact page says so instead of estimating.