I'm in 5b/6a, so a little warmer. All my peppers ripened. What really made the difference was buying a cheap cold frame. It increased temps outside by 20 degrees. So when it was 40 degrees I could put pepper plants out as it was 60 degrees in the cold frame. I brought them in at night. I did this for about 3 weeks, what a pain, but what a harvest!! By the end of three weeks they barely fit, and it was still kinda cool outside. i think they were slightly stunted when taken out, but were pretty much hardened off. I used a fan inside, so they were ready for wind etc. My tomatoes were in there too. My first tomato was around June 28th. Still have some as a matter of fact. When it got to be 60 outside I had to vent the frame as it was 80-90 degrees inside. The peppers grew like mad in it! When planted out they were over 12 inches tall, all had flowers. here's a photo of them in the cold frame

I would say McFarlands as well. Yes it is composted matter from who knows where, anything people bring to drop. But I have seen the HUGE piles this stuff composts in and I think that alot of the bad is lost in the composting process, but no guarantees. I too would prefer 100% chemical free, but when I built several large beds the cost was not possible. What I ended up doing was filling the bds about half way and then adding organic soil and compost. The stuff at McFarlands comes in several mixes, which is nice, since you can mix it to amend your current soil. I usually get the 3 way mix (Compost, Soil and Sand), but they also have heavier mixes that would work as a mulch. I try to only use it for beds that I am not planning on using to grow produce, due to the possible chemicals, but at like $15 for half a yard (about 2/3 a pickup bed full) the price can't be beat when you have a lot of ground to cover. Added bonus, I usually take a load of debris with me, drop the debris, pick up the new dirt, one stop shopping. Just don't breath deep, that place can really put on a stink if the wind and weather is right. Yikes.

I put some soil around my tomato plants just because my lasagna layers are not well mixed/even (hubby went a bit gonzo with bags of leaves in some places) and I wanted to give them a solid area to grow in initially. Also, many people say not to use pure compost for growing, to add a little soil or minerals or what have you, so that is a way to mix in a little real soil in a way that is sure to be accessible to the plants. In my other lasagna beds I never did that, although I usually spread a very thin layer of soil or finished compost on top. This one is so huge I hadn't gotten around to that step yet. Marcia

i have an antique brass bed, in a guest room, with the same kind of side rails. i think they might be put in upside down (in the photo) and, therefore, are on the wrong side of the bed. my bed was put together like that by my last mover and was recently discovered by my daughter when she was here visiting. she wasn't able to get the mattress and springs off so just put short boards at the corners to keep them from falling off. i got new carpet since then and i asked the installers to put the rails on correctly when they reassembled the bed. sorry this is so long!..... i don't know if that was done or not and the bedroom is on a different level of the house than i am on and i am in a wheelchair so i can't go check. regarding the length of the mattress, yes, today's mattresses are too long. i bought a used one about 25 years ago, when i bought the bed, since it was shorter than new mattresses at that time. i hope this makes some sense!