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[IDearthwalker]

Had a big learning curve growing in them. I'm doing ok but sure miss my old garden.

[lithicbeads]

My wife and I have gardened for decades but in retirement we downscaled to raised bed gardening. We use 25 gallon plastic pots that last a lifetime  and have 55 of them in the backyard. My mule just died and we have converted his paddock into another pot garden. We put heavy permiable ground cloth down to keep the weeds out and have another 25 pots filled with dirt and will have another 40 back there by May. We are in zone 7a-b and have fresh salad greens all winter long.Raised beds dry fast so  they may not be for you if you live in a very hot place. They need soil with good drainage, a sandy loam is perfect and at times if our compost looks too rich we will mix in some perlite and vermiculite. You need to lime the soil as well if you are using typically acid loam.

[irockhound]

I started with in ground at our first house and the yard in our 2nd home didn't allow it so I went above raised bed.  We are still at the 2nd home and I had given the space back to planters when we remodeled and currently just have 4 varieties of Blueberries I keep in 6) 25 gallon black plastic pots like Lithic.  It makes them easy to protect from the HIGHLY rare freeze we get maybe twice a year.  Our other property I spoke of long ago is in Northern San Diego County in the canyons, rural and 2.5 acres.  I have a 40' x 40' garden there that I haven't been able to use since we are in final stages of completing the house after 7 years, took 6 years to get a permit from the county due to getting taken on the purchase and not finding out the restrictions till a year after we bought. I plan to have a lot of garden when we get there.  There is another 60' area that was a compost heap with chicken and horse manure that made for great garden material.  I have 4 30' plus pecan trees that produce huge amounts except this year.  Other trees on the property are mainly citrus types but I will plant satsuma plums, and apricot and peach also moving forward.  I like raised beds for rabbit avoidance and ease of working in them and anything that needs special soils like acidic or high drainage etc.  So much to plan with the new place.  Right now designing my new rock workshop.

[IDearthwalker]

I'm in zone 3/4 so envied anyone who can grow anything anytime. We have a short growing period with wind. So have several greenhouses to grow tomatoes, green peppers in.
its a very poor soil here glacial silt. We hauled in all the bedding material. I usually sift the dirt in the fall to slowly add soil content to my beds.

Going for several different kinds of cucumbers this summer for dill pickles and lime pickles (sweet). Cutting back on potatoes to grow the russets just haven't liked my raised beds. We bought some of those cloth 5 gallon growing bags and they work fair.

Trying to find a better storing carrot. Can grow green beans, peas and so forth. White onions do great here having problems with the yellows.

Don't plant much before the first of June because there is always a killing frost around that time. I ask and learn from the old-timers here.

We do lot of canning from the garden. Got out and picked 9 or so gallons of choke cherries and made jelly and syrup last summer. Thats about the only berries we have here. So we went and planted 5 bushes last spring. Refining the garden for what we eat and what will grow good here. Anything that is 50-60 day maturity works well.

[lithicbeads]

Over the years we lost a huge greenhouse to a terrible storm and our chance of growing a tomato went with it and now even growing corn is not possible as we are getting dryer and colder so I sympathize. Growing red nordland new potatoes in pots works very well and as new potatoes they are excellent..

[55fossil]

    My wife made me change to raised beds...  Okay, they take less weeding and such. But I liked regular beds cause I could just tear through them with the tiller and water with a big sprinkler.
   On the positive side, I am now up to about 15 3 x 8 foot raised beds. Most are only 12 inches but that is plenty for rooting in my book. I grow everything in them. I do plant early with lettuce, peas, zucchinis' and others. Being near Portland we get an early start and I just cover them with a tarp when there is a late frost. I will plant in a few weeks as we just had low 20's this week after being in the 50's last week. Cannot wait for my early peas for stir fry.

[R.U. Sirius]

We are considering it for this coming season, mostly because, as Steve pointed out here, it makes it easy to prepare more specialized kinds of soil.

Raised or not is still not a big issue for us, our joints and bones are still good-enough. Having said that, kneeling down and bending for prolonged periods of time is neither pleasant nor beneficial, so why not make gardening more enjoyable by raising the beds? The cost is the only deterrent, it adds up quickly.

By the way, it's zone 3b in Edmonton. I am still amazed at how many kinds of plants thrive in here. I just can't get over the sadly short growing season - six months of fun is the best you can hope for. My pasque flowers signal the start, typically in April, and we wrap it up with the first real frost around October.

[IDearthwalker]

My beds aren't high about 6-8" But they are working. Been growing the red northern potatoes okay.

I bought one of those little cart/wagon with a swivel tractor seat and fat tires and it helps to sit and pull weeds or pick veggies. It works for me and saves all the joints and lower back.

Anyone grown the Mexican sour gherkin? Going to try them this season for pickles and such.

[lithicbeads]

I grow the heirloom lettuce Flashy Trout Back and it went to seed last year and sprouted last week. It made it through a week below 20 degrees with a 5 inch snow cover. Plants are amazing.