Starting a patch from scratch

I use grass cuttings for lots of mulch- t used it for veg/in between the bean poles etc.

What I did was, mow and dumped the grass over the beds. Covered with anything I could find and left it, weighted down with bricks.
This spring i lifted it and laid weed membrane paths...one bed I planted straight in, the other two I covered with weed membrane, burnt holes in it and planted through it.

I would love to be able to source enough compost/manure to cover the lot - unfortunately its just too big. Compost was £90 a tonne, it doesn't go very far.
Last year I managed to get some manure that I knew was a safe bet, but the petrol, man power was a huge expense for the area it covered and the weeds from it have been a pain. Its also dried out very easily.

The weed membrane beds / I burnt holes for planting pockets. Filled each hole with a handful of compost. planted out quite small seedlings.
It has worked really well - i have found that the weed membrane has also kept the moisture in, so helped hugely. I would hope that eventually i can reuse the weed membrane elsewhere- but
I will keep it in place for next year too.

It hasnt shredded. Any bit of loose bits I blasted with a blow torch to melt it. I pegged it all down.