I lately determined to change to raised mattress gardening. In fact, that meant selecting whether or not to make or purchase them, which is even tougher than deciding to surrender the battle with our horrible soil. Ultimately, I went with Vego Backyard’s 9-in-1 Modular Raised Mattress system. Let me stroll you thru setting one up and why I selected this explicit raised mattress.
I Give Up
I’m a agency believer within the energy of regenerative gardening. I believe no-dig gardening is a apply extra of us have to look into. Nonetheless, generally it’s essential to do one thing totally different.
I’ve been making an attempt to backyard out at my sweetie’s home for a decade. The soil there may be notoriously stuffed with clay; it’s poor draining, rocky and usually a nightmare to work with. Through the years, I’ve dumped cubic yard after cubic yard of compost into that plot. I went no-dig a number of years in the past. Whereas I’ll admit there have been some enhancements, they simply aren’t occurring quick sufficient.
And that’s the issue. I want to have the ability to develop greens now, not 5 or ten years from now. So, this previous fall, after one other horrible rising season, I gave up. I made a decision it was time to contemplate raised beds.
To Make or Purchase?
I spent means an excessive amount of time watching YouTube movies displaying how you can make raised beds out of all the pieces from cedar wooden to cement board. After compiling supplies lists and prices, it dawned on me that I didn’t actually need to spend the time making raised beds, particularly when, for roughly the identical price, I might purchase good ones.
As I’ve gotten older, my time has develop into my most treasured useful resource. And whereas I might make raised beds, I simply needed to get them in and be accomplished with it so I might get again to gardening.
Why Vego Backyard?
I do know that raised beds have a giant carbon footprint, so I needed one thing that was going to final. Ultimately, I selected to go together with metallic quite than wooden, realizing it might last more. I began taking a look at metallic raised beds on-line. And as most everybody can attest, when you begin looking for one thing on the web, the advertisements will observe. Advertisements for raised mattress kits popped up all over the place, however one identify saved displaying up over and over, particularly in my Instagram feed – Vego Backyard.
I beloved the concept that with only one package, I might make 9 totally different sizes or shapes. If I desire a 5’x5’ sq. to develop squash – I can try this. If I desire a lengthy 8’x2’ row, I can try this, too. Heck, watching a few of these people on Instagram, you possibly can even create totally different shapes in case you purchase a number of kits and fix them, similar to an L form or a C form.
They appeared simple to place collectively, and the completed mattress appeared good.
They arrive in numerous colours, too, which was a giant draw for me.
I appreciated that the beds gave the impression to be various lengths with a constant width of three.5’ or shorter. I like not having to wrestle to achieve into the center of a row, or on this case, a mattress. This width is ideal!
The largest think about my resolution, although, got here from driving previous a neighbor’s home for the previous 4 years and admiring his raised beds. They’re lovely, and he all the time has big tomatoes, eggplants and peppers in them. It dawned on me one afternoon that they have been the very raised beds I had been taking a look at on-line (solely he has the 36” tall model, which is a good choice when you’ve got mobility points). He loves them and so they look model new 4 years later!
Nicely, you possibly can’t beat a suggestion from a neighbor.
Transport
I ordered eight of the 9-in-1 modular raised mattress kits within the olive-green colour. The transport was fairly quick, though they didn’t all arrive on the identical time. So, in case you purchase a number of, hold that in thoughts.
Unpacking
One factor I like these days is minimal packaging. I already felt responsible about shopping for prefab-raised beds, so I used to be happy to see that they got here well-packaged in recyclable cardboard. (Nonetheless, don’t recycle it, grasp on to it, you’ll want it later.)
My one gripe concerning the packaging is that every metallic panel comes with a protecting layer of plastic movie on either side. That you must peel every of those off earlier than you set the mattress collectively. Granted, you possibly can recycle it, however nonetheless, plastic is plastic.
Placing it Collectively
Oh my gosh, it was really easy. My daughter and I put one collectively in one of many largest configurations – 6.5’x3.5’ – and it took us all of fifteen minutes. It took me longer to tug the plastic movie off than it did to assemble it.
Every mattress comes with a size of black edging to cowl the highest uncovered fringe of the assembled mattress. (Which wasn’t all that sharp, however nonetheless appreciated.) I’ll warn you: it appears similar to a black snake mendacity on the bottom, so don’t stroll across the nook of your own home and see it sitting there and soar out of your pores and skin like me.
Filling the Mattress
One of many issues I preferred was that within the directions, every of the 9 totally different configurations additionally confirmed how a lot soil it might take to fill it. Their web site even has a soil calculator in case you select to do the Hugelkultur Technique, which I did. This makes the price of filling your raised beds a lot much less.
Vego Backyard suggests that you just put down flattened cardboard contained in the mattress earlier than filling it. It will forestall weeds from rising and slowly break down over time.
I additionally added items of wooden from a way-past-seasoned firewood pile.
It will slowly break down within the soil, and since the wooden has mushrooms rising on it, it would assist to jumpstart the soil microbiome within the mattress.
Then it was bag after bag after bag (you get the concept) of raised mattress container soil and a few well-composted cow manure. For the 6.5’x3.5’ configuration, I used 10 – 1.5 cubic foot luggage of raised mattress soil and 4 luggage of cow manure. I believe I’ll put in two extra luggage of raised mattress soil because it tends to settle.
All in all, the entire course of was fairly common so far as a day within the backyard goes – exhausting work, however properly price it when the solar started to set. I’m going to carry off placing collectively the remainder till spring, however I needed to get this one up and operating so I might develop cold-weather crops below a polytunnel this winter. Subsequent yr, this raised mattress will probably be my kitchen backyard, because it’s proper by my again door.
Thus far, I actually just like the Vego Backyard raised beds. I’ll hold you posted as I develop in them.
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