There are several designs for do-it-yourself "Earth Boxes" floating around the Internet. They have somewhat varied materials and labor costs, but most are based on the Rubbermaid storage tub in sizes ranging from 10 gallons to 18 gallons. All of the designs will cost about $10 per box for materials and will require between 30 min. and 1 hr. to construct. The cost of soil will depend on the size of the box.
The larger box (18 gal) shown above is appropriate for 2 large tomato plants. It has sufficient soil volume to grow the really large and productive tomatoes. You could also grow any deep-rooted vegetable such as large carrots, potatoes, climbing vine plants like pole beans, vine squash, etc. I suggest building these boxes with a 6 inch water reservoir.
The mid size box (14 gal) would be good for moderate deep rooted plants -- broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bush beans, etc. I suggest making these boxes with a 5 inch water reservoir.
The smallest box (10 gal) would be good for shallow rooted plants like lettuce, radish, scallions, most greens, etc. I suggest building these boxes with a 4 inch water reservoir.
The depth of the water reservoir can depend somewhat on your climate and how often you expect to be able to add water. In hot climates or where you can only tend the box 2-3 times a week, definitely, make the water reservoir larger. In cool climates like the maritime Northwest (N. Cal, OR, WA, BC), we can get by with smaller water reservoirs.
If you know that you will be away from your SWAMP boxes for extended periods of time like a vacation, and you can't get a neighbor to tend them, consider installing some sort of drip watering timer on a hose. Instead of running the drip irrigation system around your plants, just run the drip hoses directly into the watering tube of the SWAMP box. You'll have to experiment with how many minutes each day to run it.
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