Last year my son was diagnosed with Alpha Gal Syndrome, which restricts him from eating mammal meat and by products. With this diet overhaul for my family, I now focus on using dark, leafy greens and other iron-rich vegetables in the brassica family. This spring I am growing brassicas in my beautiful, Vego Self-Watering Elevated Raised Bed.
Brassicas are cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and collard greens. These vegetables thrive in the cooler weather, so spring is the perfect time to grow them. They are delicious tucked into soups, salads, stir-fries and more, and can often be costly and wilted at my local grocery store. On the flip side, seeds for these plants are a fraction of the cost, and easy to grow.
I chose the 2’x6′ Self-Watering Elevated Raised Bed from Vego in the color pearl white [MSRP $549.95]. This gorgeous garden bed features handles on either end, heavy duty castors that roll with not much effort and a self-watering pan (as the name would suggest) that keeps plant maintenance to a minimum and takes advantage of stored rain water.
My husband assembled the garden, as I was recovering from a recent hand surgery. Usually we work together to assemble our Vego beds (we have purchased several over the years like this tall version and our main garden beds), which makes the process much faster. He filled the bed with bags of garden soil mixed with compost, made simply from our kitchen scraps.
I love that this bed can be rolled from place-to-place. This allows me to move the bed to capture more sun or shade, depending on what has been planted in the garden. With the cooler weather, I’ve pushed my self-watering bed out to the edge of the patio, so that the plants can bask in the sunlight and warmth.
This winter I started seeds for cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and some companions – chives and bachelors buttons inside on my Vego 4 Tier Grow Light Garden. The chives should help repel pests, and the flowers will add a little color.
At the end of March, I gleefully selected plants to move out to the Vego bed. This elevated garden is wonderful for planting. Because it is filled with soft garden soil, it is easy to work with a trowel – much unlike our clay and rock-filled dirt in the Missouri Ozarks. And, the bed’s height (standing 39 inches tall) eliminates any bending down during planting and weeding. Last, as I previously mentioned, I water this bed much less frequently than my normal beds because it has the self-watering capability.
I placed the plant starts on the tray underneath the garden bed. This is helpful for hardening off the plants, and helping their transition from the green house to the unprotected outdoors.
Next I placed the pots to determine the plant spacing.
I also went over to my cold frame garden and dug up several of my greens to transplant into the elevated bed. They are beautiful and so tasty, and should help act as a “living mulch” underneath my taller brassicas as they grow.
When I was happy with the plant layout and spacing, I made quick work on getting everything planted and watered. The growth in just a few short weeks speaks for how great this garden set up truly is.
We are already eating the greens, and can’t wait for the other plants to be ready for harvest. I will definitely plant this same lineup again in the fall.
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Jackie Baird Richardson is an interior designer, editor at The WON and avid junker. Watch for her design tips and occasional crafting ideas, bringing the outdoors indoors. View all posts by Jackie Richardson
