Build Raised Bed Gardens With Your Stapleton Neighbors – Here Is How!
Last Saturday our Stapleton block got together and learned how to build and plant our own raised bed gardens with Bryant Mason, owner of Urban Farm Company of Colorado. I wanted to share our experience because I think other blocks in Stapleton may want to team up and do the same thing on their block. Here is what we did, hope it helps you build community and great gardens on your block!
We all chipped in and hired Bryant to come in and show us how to build a 4 ft x 4 ft raised garden bed in one of our neighbor’s backyards. He knew going in that our goal was to learn his techniques and then replicate them in our own yards all throughout the block. We now have 8 households doing raised beds along our little block which is going to be a real cool, uniting theme for the group! Plus almost all the gardens will be in the front yard to get more sunlight which I think will look really cool for curb appeal. So we all chipped in on the cost of the 4×4 bed and we looked at it as if we were paying for a lesson really. (The neighbor who got the bed built in their yard chipped in half the total cost since they received the most benefit) Bryant walked us through every step of the process…such as site selection for you bed, how to prepare the area, how to build the bed, what types of wood are best, what soils to use, how much sand to use, what compost to use, where to source all the materials, how to plant for high yield, when to plant, how much to plant, and more! I think the group walked away feeling they really got their money’s worth cause there is a lot to learn!
At this point we’ve purchased all our lumber and most of the neighbors have built their beds. Next we’re going to all chip in on the bulk delivery of soil, sand and compost through Bryant’s recommendations to save money. After that we’ll work on automating the water which Bryant is going to help us with as well!
Building gardens together with neighbors has so many benefits! You’ll build camaraderie among the neighbors, the kids will learn where food comes from, you’ll have fresh veggies (taste way better!), you’re doing something good for the environment and it’s just fun. Hopefully this summer we’ll reap the benefits of our work!
To contact Bryant give him a call at (970) 481-5833 or go to www.urbanfarmcolorado.com. If you don’t want to take the DIY approach Bryant will come in and do it all for you. In fact, most of the time Bryant delivers a turnkey product where the client has minimal work to do on their own.
Good luck!
