Ryde , NSW

A forward-thinking school in Ryde came to us through Ryde Council's "Edible Gardens in Schools" project wanting something genuinely inclusive: a wheelchair-accessible wicking bed that every student could use. It became one of the projects we're most proud of.

The bed is designed to be fully accessible from both sides by a wheelchair, so a student can roll right up and reach into the growing space comfortably, while still keeping the sealed water reservoir in the base that makes our beds self-watering. Marrying those two things — true accessibility and proper wicking — is harder than it sounds, and as far as we can tell these are the only wheelchair-accessible wicking beds on record anywhere in the world. Having met the relevant NSW accessibility standards, we were really pleased with how the design came together.

What makes it special is that nothing is given up for the sake of access. An accessible raised garden bed can be genuinely inclusive without losing the easy, productive, self-watering growing that makes these beds so good in the first place, and this Ryde school bed shows exactly how. Reachable from both sides at a comfortable seated height and built to meet NSW standards, it lets every student take part in planting, tending and harvesting — no one watches from the sidelines.

Like all our beds, it's built from kiln-dried, vegetable-grade timber with our food-safe iron-oxide finish — no cheap CCA pine near where students grow their food — fully lined over the wicking reservoir and filled with our custom organic growing medium. The self-watering base means the garden keeps growing through weekends and school holidays without daily attention, so it stays productive and ready for the next lesson with very little staff time.

Delivered through Ryde Council's Edible Gardens in Schools program, it's a design we're proud to have pioneered locally, and a great example of how a thoughtful brief can push a product somewhere genuinely new. For the school, it means a productive, low-maintenance outdoor classroom that truly includes every child.

Built from durable, food-safe timber, it's made to last in a busy school setting. UrbanVeg builds accessible raised garden beds and self-watering vegetable beds for schools across Ryde and the North Shore. If your school wants a garden that every student can reach and enjoy, we'd love to help you design it.