I’ve also always dreamed of being able to grow all my own vegetables. But I thought I was years away from being able to afford the giant walled veggie garden I imagined this would require. As I discovered last year, I was wrong.

Since August, my herb garden dream has come true.

It brings me so much joy when I’m cooking to be able to duck outside and pick some fresh basil or parsley or oregano or chives to add the finishing touches to a dish. It also brings me joy to have an abundance of herbs so if I want to make a big batch of pesto or tabbouleh, I know my herb garden can deliver.

My vegetable self-sufficiency dream isn’t quite there. But I’m very close.

It’s over 6 weeks since I last went to the farmers market because we are pretty much eating our own veg (apart from potatoes. But my husband is Irish so we eat a lot of potatoes!).

And it’s all thanks to my six WaterUps^® veggie wicking beds.

5 Reasons I LOVE my WaterUps^® veggie wicking beds

1. Use less water

This was my biggest motivation for switching to wicking beds because I only have access to the rain water we collect from our roof for my veggies. I can’t believe how little water I need to add to the beds.

And as an added bonus I love knowing that each bed acts as a mini reservoir, collecting any rain that falls on them.

2. Low maintenance

In the cooler months, I was only filling them up every 2 weeks or so. This Summer it’s been incredibly hot, so I’m finding I need to water every 3–4 days but still much less work than the twice daily watering you would normally need in this heat*.

3. Grow an abundance in small spaces

The nicest surprise about these beds is how abundantly productive they are. It’s amazing how much food you can produce in such a small space.

4. Healthy plants

I’ve struggled with caterpillers in my basil for years. However with the wicking beds my basil is completely bug-free!

I wish I could say the same for my kale, but there has been some cabbage moth carnage. Much less than in years past.

5. Easy to install yourself

When one of my readers told me about the concept of wicking beds I did some research but everything I found seemed way beyond my DIY skills.

But after a friend was telling me about her wicking beds I thought ‘surely someone is making an easy kit for people to build their own?’

And with a more determined internet search I discovered that the guys from WaterUps^® had done just that.

I ordered 2 WaterUps^® wicking beds immediately, and was so happy with them I ordered another 4 a few weeks later.

Footnote:

* This only related to the period in January when the temperature was consistently over 40°C in the Canberra area and in respect of the bed with the large tomato plants. The decision to water was not prompted by the water reservoir being empty, but because the leaves on the tomato plants were showing signs of heat stress. As noted in previous blog posts tomatoes are one of the thirstiest plants.

A video tour of my garden