Ummmm.... well, you can start by looking at THIS website, and reading all the info available.
Look through and read the postings, do a search of the various topics you're interested in.
You have a lot of questions, and no one is going to be able to answer all of them satisfactorily in a few posts.
People are willing to help, but you need to do some work on your own first!

I have many books on this and related subjects and looked at some websites but was looking for some practical knowledge and reliable information. I have found little to no information on some of the questions that I have, whether it be due to my location or other special circumstances. If maybe someone could lend their experience to a few questions and some else to others then between that and my research I hope to come up with a viable combination.

I have many books on this and related subjects and looked at some websites but was looking for some practical knowledge and reliable information.
What books specifically? What sites? I have a hard time thinking that none of your questions were answered.

To keep things simple, I recommend you check out the book "Square Foot Gardening" (the February 2006 edition, not the previous one) which specifically deals with raised beds.

Assuming you utilize the systems they use then here are the answer to your questions:

-What exactly is a raised bed, is it seperated from the ground?
It can be as simple as digging an area, let's say 4x4 for a small example down to one foot deep. Bring the soil from all the edges (say about 4-6 inches all around) to the center and smooth out to fill in the square (but not the edges) which raises the height. It can be cinderblocks, bricks, wood constructed into a frame and soil or growing medium put into directly on top of lawn, a driveway, a patio, etc. It can have a bottom, or it may not have a bottom that is permanently attached to the frame. If you use the Square Foot Gardening method, you build a frame to hold at least a height of 6" of soil/growing medium.

--Would raised beds be benificial in my area?
Yes, because you wouldn't have to deal with your existing soil at all. Put in the proper growing medium to begin with and you're ready to go.

--What are some of the benifits of raised beds?
They heat up faster, no compaction because you never walk on it, perfect drainage assuming the medium you put in it is good to begin with.

--What are some of the draw backs?
Few to none if created properly.

--How do I prep them?
Acquire the materials, build the frame, mix and dump in the soil/growing medium.

--Do they cut down on insect/disease problems? I have been fighting a destructive pill bug population, aphids on peppers and cantalope, and mildew on cucumbers/squash.
Depends. If you have a pill bug problem, then that means you're providing food for them. Don't provide food for them and they will move on. Diatomaceous Earth will work to eliminate them. Powdery mildew travels thru the air and there are different types of the fungi. A raised bed will not eliminate any pest or disease automatically. When you're working with an ecosystem, you will have to deal with all it's parts. The best thing to prevent powdery mildew or specific diseases or pests is to plant varieties that are resistant to them to begin with.

--I have some boards that used to be a deck, they are pressure treated and insect resistant, would these work?
Of course. If you are worried about chemicals, you can line the sides with plastic.

--How deep should they be?
If you use the Square Foot Gardening method, high enough to hold 6 inches of soil/growing medium.

--I've read you have a longer growing season, true or false?
Depends. If you take measures to plant seeds early and plant a fall crop, then yes. If you take measures to provide a shade cloth in the summer or floating row covers in early spring and as it gets cold in fall, then yes.

--Do they need more, less or the same watering?
Depends on what soil/growing medium you put in it.

--Is there a website I could look at?
http://www.squarefootgardening.com

--Is there anything I forgot?
I think you're expecting (based on your questions) that a raised bed will solve all your problems. It won't, and it depends on what the problems are to begin with. Go to the following links of these people who have literally created raised bed vegetable gardens, describe them in detail, and use the following growing medium in the frames they constructed:

* 1/3 Peat Moss - available at any garden center or supermarket.
* 1/3 Vermiculite - Buy the coarse grade in large 4 cubic-foot bags at any garden center.
* 1/3 Blended Compost - created from at least five different materials, not just one so as to provide a balanced diet. It is the only source of nutrients these vegetables get from their soil because it's all they need:

Examples Page 1
Examples Page 2
Examples Page 3
Examples Page 4
Examples Page 5

Here's answers/synopsis from what I've read on this board and in a couple books:

-What exactly is a raised bed, is it seperated from the ground?
A raised bed is a bunch of dirt surrounded on all sides by walls - maybe concrete blocks, maybe boards. Usually there's a barrier between the bottom of the box and the ground. Sometimes this is wire (to keep out burrowing animals), sometimes it is plastic or something similar. A barrier is not necessary though. A raised bed can be plopped down right on top of sod (though most seem to favor pulling up the sod and turning it upside down first).

-Would raised beds be benificial in my area?
I can't see how they'd make much of a difference from gardening direct in ground.

-What are some of the benifits of raised beds?
They're neater to look at. If your compost, dirt, etc. is weed-free, then they're somewhat easier to keep the weeds out of. In most cases, a raised bed is built to dimensions that make it easy to reach across and work on, but a properly planned in-ground garden will have that too. They're set a bit off the ground, which means a little less leaning over to do things. They make it easier to garden "modularly", like saying "this bed is for tomatoes and basil" and "this other bed is for squash". Some people mark off their raised beds in one foot intervals and call it square foot gardening (there's a guy with a very successful line of books and a website about this).

-What are some of the draw backs?
If you want to expand, you have to build a whole new bed. Once the dimensions of a raised bed are set, they're set. They make it very difficult to use a tiller or wheeled power equipment (though on the other hand, having a raised bed discourages walking in the bed, and if you don't walk in the bed, you probably won't need a power tiller). Raised beds are not well suited to large scale operations - if you're gardening for pleasure or to raise seasonal food for the kitchen, then you're fine. But if you want to raise enough to sell, it probably isn't the way to go.

-How do I prep them?
Pick a spot. Build the frame. Lay the frame down on the spot. Mark off the sod (with flour). Dig down about 2-3 inches to get the roots of the sod. Turn the sod upside down. Put the frame on the location. Fill with good dirt and quality compost. Remember it's fairly hard to change the dirt mix once it's in there, so get it right the first time!

-Do they cut down on insect/disease problems? I have been fighting a destructive pill bug population, aphids on peppers and cantalope, and mildew on cucumbers/squash.
I would expect that it wouldn't help at all on flying insects, but burrowing ones will be detered until they find the new location.

-I have some boards that used to be a deck, they are pressure treated and insect resistant, would these work?
I think so.

-How deep should they be?
They should sit on the ground (do not bury them). The bed itself should be ... I dunno, but I see pictures of them anywhere from 18 inches to 3 feet. I think the "taller" beds are so you can sit on the side while you work on them, with no bending over required.

-I've read you have a longer growing season, true or false?
I've seen that a raised bed lends itself well to row covers, because you have the walls of the bed to reinforce the row cover spines. That could extend the growing season, though if you used row covers on an in-ground garden, you'd get the same result.

-Do they need more, less or the same watering?
I don't know.

-Is there a website I could look at?
-Is there anything I forgot?
Beats me. I use in-ground gardening myself.

-Would raised beds be benificial in my area?
I can't see how they'd make much of a difference from gardening direct in ground.
They make a huge difference. Especially if your growing medium is entirely different than your existing soil.

For example, these links demonstrate gardens which use the following medium for their raised beds:

* 1/3 Peat Moss - available at any garden center or supermarket.
* 1/3 Vermiculite - Buy the coarse grade in large 4 cubic-foot bags at any garden center.
* 1/3 Blended Compost - created from at least five different materials, not just one so as to provide a balanced diet. It is the only source of nutrients these vegetables get from their soil because it's all they need:

Examples Page 1
Examples Page 2
Examples Page 3
Examples Page 4
Examples Page 5

--What are some of the draw backs?
If you want to expand, you have to build a whole new bed. Once the dimensions of a raised bed are set, they're set. They make it very difficult to use a tiller or wheeled power equipment....
I think you're missing the point which is that once your bed is properly created, you never need a tiller or power equipment. Walking on the ground where you intend on planting is terrible for the soil because it compacts the soil. Many people don't till soil at the proper time which ruins soil structure which is incredibly important for growing healthy, happy plants. Building a bed only takes less than an hour and once it's done, it's done and lasts for years. If constructed from wood, it is easily portable. Much easier than spending the money on a tiller, getting it out and tilling, and storing and maintaining it on a regular basis.

Raised beds are not well suited to large scale operations
On the contrary. It is very well suited to large scale operations. Particularly because you can produce 100% yield in 20% of the space. So if you take the original space that was being used to grow crops, you can increase your yield from that same space to well over 400%.

if you want to raise enough to sell, it probably isn't the way to go
Quite the opposite is true. See previous response.

They should sit on the ground (do not bury them). The bed itself should be ... I dunno, but I see pictures of them anywhere from 18 inches to 3 feet.
Completely unnecessary, again, go to the links above. They are successfully growing healthy, high yielding vegetables in 6 inches of compost rich soil.

Lots of good questions!

Originally posted by raidri4:
I'm a first year veggie gardener and have learned that I can't just stick things in the ground and everything will be ok. I have a clay based soil and did some tilling and planted. None of the plants died, in fact some grew quite well but the harvest thus far has been pathetic. I'm in a very hot climate (Houston metro)and am trying to plan my attack for next season.

Clay has ZERO nutrients and holds water forever. I'm surprised that things lived! When it rains, your plants sit in water for hours or days at a stretch. Vegetable roots will not tolerate being wet for long periods of time or they will rot or encourage fungal diseases. The roots need breathing room and reasonably soft, crumbly soil so that they can grow through. Most vegetables can grow roots 2-3 FEET deep and/or wide.

Originally posted by raidri4:
What exactly is a raised bed, is it seperated from the ground?

Usually, a raised bed is bottomless. You till the grass under or remove it altogether with a sod cutter. Then you build a retaining wall of some kind 6" to 18" tall and fill it with soil and try to mix the new soil with the existing soil as best you can. It is backbreaking work to try to turn up and mix Houston clay but if you can mix some vermiculite (sand ideal for gardens) or perlite and peat moss into the ground, you'll improve the texture of the soil. Having good soil on top of crappy soil will also encourage earthworms to improve ALL of it. After a few years, the soil under your raised bed will get better.

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Originally posted by raidri4:
Would raised beds be benificial in my area?

Some would say it is IMPOSSIBLE to grow a good garden in Houston WITHOUT a raised bed.

Raised beds are a better use of space. Instead of trying to improve a 10 x 10 foot area with walkways that you step on all the time, which damages roots, you build three 3' x 10' beds with grass walkways in between and then you only have to improve the soil in those beds. And good deep rich soil, you can plant more intensively than the instructions on the seed packets. For instance, a 4' row of beets that is 1' wide gives you 12 beets. A 2' x 2' section of raised bed still takes up 4 square feet, but you can intensively plant the beets closer together and you get 30+ beets out of the same square footage.

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The picture above is actually not a good example because it is a 6' wide bed. I will be dividing it up into two 3' wide beds and pulling all those landscaping timbers out and replacing them with 2" x 12"s. Very expensive but should last for 5-10 years. You never want a bed so wide that you can't reach into the center so you have to step in the garden. And my tomato plants are a bit too close together. Determinate (bushy) varieties should be 2 - 2 1/2 feet apart. Indeterminate (vining varieties - -- look at that vine sticking up from the tomato plant in the front center) grow 6'-8' feet tall and need at least 3' spacing but produce more, better-tasting tomatoes.

Originally posted by raidri4:
-What are some of the benifits of raised beds?

* You're using your own soil so you can put whatever you want instead of worrying about what's already down there.
* Excellent drainage. Soil that is sopping wet or that water pools in invites any number of diseases that kill or stunt vegetables. Houston gets torrential downpours and that rain has to go somewhere. It will drain out of a raised bed and keep your vegetables high and moist instead of sopping wet.

Originally posted by raidri4:
What are some of the draw backs?

Expense. Buying good lumber or stone, soil, vermiculite, compost, etc. is not cheap. Good compost is $5/ a bag. You want to use a minimum of 1" of compost gently mixed into the top of your soil. You may want to go to a soil/mulch place (one of those places on 249 or anywhere else that have huge piles of dirt) and have them deliver a truckload of soil conditioner (compost, vermiculite, etc.) and/or soil.

Originally posted by raidri4:
-How do I prep them?

Get some lumber or concrete blocks or anything heavy and sturdy enough not to rot within 5+ years. Fill it with topsoil or garden soil, compost (up to 1/2 of the soil can be compost but this is extremely expensive to do -- the more you put, the btter your plants will do), some peat, vermiculite. Basically whatever you can afford. Spend $100-200 now and then the price goes down noticeably each year afterwards. You might only need a few bags of compost (or the contents of your compost pile if you start one!) and other soil amendments next time around.

Originally posted by raidri4:
Do they cut down on insect/disease problems? I have been fighting a destructive pill bug population, aphids on peppers and cantalope, and mildew on cucumbers/squash.

Raised beds will help a little bit with insects since they will have that natural barrier. But you need to address each problem you are having. Grabbing a bag of Sevin dust and blanketing the whole garden is not the answer, plus it kills bees which you desparately need to have good cucumber, squash, and canteloupe production.
* Pillbugs usually do not attack living plants. They usually go after decomposing material. Some people have problems with them. Not sure on the solution there.

* Aphids are dispensed in 2 ways.
#1 Planting flowers in your garden that attract ladybugs (it is a waste to buy a tub of 1,000 ladybugs because they'll eat all the aphids in one sitting and then fly away never to return)
#2 Make insecticidal soap by mixing a few drops of Dawn dishwashing detergent in with a quart of water and put it in a clean pesticide/herbicide-free spray bottle and spray all over your plants in the morning or evening. The soap dissolves their little bodies. You can also take measures to control the ants which are "farming" aphids. Aphids usually don't show up by themslves. Ants and aphids have a coexisting relationship and if you take care of one you'll take care of both. DO NOT USE pesticides in your garden unless it specifically states it is safe for edible vegetable crops. Most aren't. For many bugs you can use diluted Neem oil or Pyrethrin which are extracts of Neem Trees and Chrysanthemums. Neem II spray is expensive but good.

* For mildew on cucumbers, squash, and other plants, spray your plants with Chlorothalonil. This is sold as Ortho Multi-purpose Fungicide/Disease Control or Daconil. This is one of the safest chemical fungicides available. The best offense is a good defense. Cucumbers and Squash should really be given an 8' trellis to climb. Not only will you get straighter, better cucumbers, but the plants will have a lot more airflow around them which will minimize those moisture-related diseases.

Originally posted by raidri4:
I have some boards that used to be a deck, they are pressure treated and insect resistant, would these work?

Some people are concerned with the trace amounts of arsenic in pressure-treated wood and go to the extra expense of buying wood that is naturally resistant to rotting like Cedar. I just don't have that kind of money.

Originally posted by raidri4:
How deep should they be?

Assuming you're going to either peel off the grass or turn it under and then put soil on top, I would go at least 12".

Originally posted by raidri4:
I've read you have a longer growing season, true or false?

It is a myth that Houston has a 9 or 12 month growing season. In fact we have 2 relatively SHORT seasons interrupted by 2 months of inferno that kill or put a halt to fruit production on just about any vegetable you can think of except southern peas like black-eyed peas. Unless you have a hankering for them, leave your gardens empty for July and start putting in rugged, well-hardened transplants starting in August for your fall crop.

You can grow lettuce and spinach from October-April here. Some years, tomatoes will keep growing and producing through February!!!

Check out my Houston Garden Plan for 2006. This is a document I created based on some Master Gardener info and schedules. Pay careful attention to some of the dates that have a (T) after them. For instance, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. should be started from seed around August 15th for planting September 15th. I am starting cucumber and squash seeds indoors July 1st to plant August 1st. I started tomato and pepper seeds a couple of days ago with the intention of planting them in the ground in late July to early August. Tomatoes, peppers, and most other vegetables are incapable of setting fruit because the pollen gets destroyed or clumps together in 90+ degrees and humid which is what June, July and August have in store for us Houstonites. It is a rush to get tomatoes in the ground in March because if they don't have fruit hanging off of them by mid-June, it ain't gonna happen.

Of course these are all guidelines and we sometimes get heat waves, cold snaps, weeks of dreary rainy weather that put a knot in our plans. This was actually a very good spring for tomatoes as the heat and drenching rains held off. That frost around March 23rd was a bummer for people in and around Austin who didn't take precautions though.

Originally posted by raidri4:
Do they need more, less or the same watering?

I run a soaker hose every 2 days for 10-15 minutes. The idea is to get the soil nice and soaked but after 2 hours, no water should still be pooled on the surface. As long as you can dig into the soil with your finger and find that there is still moisture, you're in good shape.

If you are wanting to save on water, put down mulch such as old leaves, herbicide-free grass clippings (some say that grass that was weed-n-feeded 3 months ago is safe), hay, or pine bark. Ignore any directions you find to put down black or red plastic or that artificially-dyed black pine bark mulch. Down here, the heat radiating up will cook your plants. I found that out the hard way.

Originally posted by raidri4:
Is there a website I could look at?

Run to Bookstop, Barnes & Noble or Half Priced (or Quarter Price) books and buy The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith and/or Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. These are "everything you need to know" books about raised bed gardening and a crash course in how to deal with a lot of things that come up.

Alas, I don't think either book covers Stink Bugs or Leaf-footed Bugs which are a real problem for Houston tomatoes. These annoying bugs which are impervious to most insecticides, bite into tomatoes, suck the juices, and leave a cottony scar behind which affects the texture of the fruit. I reach in with a gloved hand and quickly smoosh them when I find them, but you can't find them all.

There is a Houston-specific book which covers all the things I've just mentioned that is not in stores but can be had from UrbanHarvest, an organization that specializes in growing vegetables and gardens in and around Houston. UrbanHarvest and especially that book has a lot of advice on the things you'll run into that people even 300 miles north of us don't have to worry about. UrbanHarvest has a REAL farmer's market every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning. Get there EARLY because the heirloom tomatoes go fast!! Right now they have incredible tasting heirloom tomatoes that blow the doors off any tomato transplant variety you'll find at Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

If you are looking for a Houston nursery that has good advice and is willing to talk to you, I've had good luck with Cornelius nurseries on 1960 2 mi west of I-45. I don't know how much they know about fall vegetable gardening in Houston though. It seems to be a relatively new concept to most garden centers.

Originally posted by raidri4:
Is there anything I forgot?

It is important to pick varieties that are appropriate to Houston. The typical broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc. varieties that grow great in Pennsylvania or Northern California will "bolt" or go to seed, sending up bouquets of flowers instead of providing you with tasty vegetables because they freak out when the temp hits 80 degrees. You need heat tolerant, early varieties that are ready to harvest faster.

It is important to water the SOIL and not the PLANTS in Houston because this is a moist place and moisture on the leaves, especially if you water at night, will stick around and provide a window of opportunity to funguses, mildews, and bacteria to attack your plants. Water in the morning and water with soaker hoses so the plants don't get wet themselves.

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The exception is if you are doing a "foliar feed" which is to buy some seaweed extract or fish emulsion mixed 2 tbsp to a gallon of water and then you water the entire plant including the leaves. That's done once a week if you want maximum results. If you mix a lot of good compost and/or well-composted manure (NOT FRESH!) into the soil, plus have good drainage because of the right amount of sand and peat, plus you are watering the plants every once in a while with a foliar feed, you really should not need much in the way of chemical fertilizers. It's actually possible to hurt your vegetables with kindness by overfertilizing. If you want to know which kind of fertilizer each of your crops needs, check out Vegetable Gardener's Bible. Resist the temptation to reach for a bottle of Miracle-Gro. I did use a reasonable amount of Osmocote slow-release fertilizer along with compost and foliar feeding with kelp concentrate and have had very good results all things considered (this is my first year too!).

If there's one thing that grows easily in Houston, it's watermelons and melons of any kind. They love sun and heat and are drought-tolerant. Just realize that each watermelon plant can grow up to 16 feet long if you don't give it a trellis to climb (and large-fruited watermelons like 10lbs + you'll need to figure out a way to support each melon). Remember to stop or reduce watering watermelons and canteloupes the last few days before you harvest so you'll get better tasting fruit.

g'day raidri,

i use raised beds always, plenty of "pro's" and for me no "con's".

anyhow check my site on my building a garden page see how i do it, also there is a link to 'ausgarden' i have a blog running on my current project.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

"-Would raised beds be benificial in my area?
I can't see how they'd make much of a difference from gardening direct in ground.
They make a huge difference. Especially if your growing medium is entirely different than your existing soil."

I was assuming that ALL other factors would be the same. If he intensively conditioned his soil to the degree that the standard raised bed assumes (ie, all new soil/compost/etc.), then the results would be the same. Now, if the raised bed uses a mix of compost/vermiculite/high quality soil, and the in-ground method uses native clay-based soil without augmentation, then yes, there will be a huge difference. However, the difference will not be based on using a raised bed. The difference will be based on using different soil.

"Building a bed only takes less than an hour ..."
LOL. Yeeaahhh, ri-ight. It would take me at least that much time to go to the lumber store, get the wood and get back to the house, much less buy tools to assemble it, cut the sod, turn it over, do the assembly, buy the compost/vermiculite/etc., put it in there, dig it in/mix it and so on. Assuming I don't screw up in the process, like cut the wood incorrectly and have to buy more, or buy the wrong kind of whatever in the wrong quantity. So, yeah, sure, maybe it takes YOU an hour, but it sure as heck would take me a lot more time. On the other hand, I've already got a shovel and a thick-tined fork, and that's all I need for the in-ground stuff. But I happen to be blessed with decent dirt where going to the trouble of building a raised bed isn't worth it, when I can get great results out of just adding some compost to what I've already got.

"Raised beds are not well suited to large scale operations
On the contrary. It is very well suited to large scale operations."
No, it's not. But perhaps we're arguing over definitions here. Raised beds are great if labor is cheap and plentiful, and if you have few enough beds that you can walk from one to the others and examine them as needed every couple of days. For a large-scale (aka commercial) endeavor, they suck. There's a reason why the big agribusinesses use monoculture and row planting. It's because it's efficient in terms of cost. Of course, I figure 98% of the people here at GardenWeb aren't doing commercial-scale gardening, so raised beds are fine.

Originally posted by feldon30:
Clay has ZERO nutrients and holds water forever

Sorry, but the first part is incorrect. Clay is actually the part of the soil profile that does hold the most nutrients. (Sand does not and silt not as much.)

Clay is actually good to have. It simply needs to be loosened up with organic matter so that there is drainage and aeration. Keep in mind there are several types of "clay" in the "clay soil" range. Not all are bad.

"Sand: Rounded particles 1/12 to 1/500 inch (2.0 to 0.06 millimeters) in diameter.
Silt: Rounded particles 1/500 to 1/12,500 inch (0.06 to 0.002 millimeters) in diameter.
Clay: Flattened particles less than 1/12,500 inch (0.002 millimeters) in diameter.
Loam: Mixture of the above in roughly equal proportions.

...clay has about 1,000 times the surface area as the same volume of sand. More surface area means that clay will hold more water and more nutrients."
Improving Soil by Rod Smith
Oregon Certified Nursery Professional

Photos of Raised Bed Square Foot Gardens

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The Secret to Successful Living - Healthy Soil!
The Scoop on Soil
A Dirt Primer

I would NEVER use chemically treated wood near my vegetables.

gamebird,

"-Would raised beds be benificial in my area?
I can't see how they'd make much of a difference from gardening direct in ground.
They make a huge difference. Especially if your growing medium is entirely different than your existing soil."

I was assuming that ALL other factors would be the same. If he intensively conditioned his soil to the degree that the standard raised bed assumes (ie, all new soil/compost/etc.), then the results would be the same. Now, if the raised bed uses a mix of compost/vermiculite/high quality soil, and the in-ground method uses native clay-based soil without augmentation, then yes, there will be a huge difference. However, the difference will not be based on using a raised bed. The difference will be based on using different soil.

Hence the wonderful world of forums being open to anyone who wishes to respond in whatever manner they choose to answer. In regards to your last two sentences there, my example is based on both attributes of being a raised bed with a specific growing medium and not existing soil.

Re: Raised beds and "large scale operations"
I'm not arguing about anything. We simply each have a different perspective. If you wish to break it down to differences in machines vs people - then yes - with the current machinery that was created for traditional industrial row farming, raised beds are not conducive to those machines. But there are plenty of places in other countries that can't afford those machines or that much land to begin with and still need to feed thousands of people. And many of those people need the work.

And are machines really better when you engineer a plant to produce 30 tomatoes all at the same time to be all the same size, same color, same shape, to be pest resistant, disease resistant, to survive harvesting by machine early enough to last thru processing, transportation, and to sit on a grocery store shelf long enough to make it to a customer's home who may or may not eat it that day? It's just not the same as a home grown tomato that ripens on the vine. The greatest loss is flavor, followed by enjoyment of eating it in the first place. Are machines really better when there is no shortage of food in the world, only political issues preventing the food from getting to those that need it. Five companies don't need to own 90% of the world's food crops.

Spokane, WA
"Using the "Square Foot Gardening" method, it is estimated that the garden will yield around four tons of produce during the growing season or the equivalent of nearly 6,000 meals. The total value of the produce is expected to be more than $13,000."

I don't know nearly as much as Mel on where exactly the larger scale systems have been implemented. There is one example in India:

"In fact, while the old methods of farming were producing two crops (radishes and potatoes) grown in only six months of the year because of the monsoon rains, Father Abraham's project is now growing twenty-two crops during the entire twelve months of the year, and they are selling the harvest at a farmers market they have created in the more populated cities. (He now operates a sizeable, well organized 6 -acres...) Just think of the enormity of that comparison: Two crops for only six months of the year versus twenty-two crops during the entire twelve months of every year. In addition, because of the condensed space needed for Square Foot Gardening (only 20% of the original space), they are producing five times as much from the same space. The end result is a 10-fold increase in their harvest."

Re: building beds
If you'd like me to help you and I'm ever in the area, I'd be happy to help. And yes, this was assuming you already have the materials ready to go to start building!

;)

lol

Violet,

What do you want me to say?

Clay by itself is insufficient to grow vegetables. It needs sand (Vermiculite), peat (drainage and water distribution), and organic material to support vegetables.

You don't *have* to import entirely new soil to fill your raised bed, either. Mine were all made by adding lots and lots of organic matter to my native clay soil. This created mounds, and I gardened with those mounded beds for a while before salvaging some timbers and building a frame for each bed.

Kristin

Organic matter costs money unless you have a compost pile already. I started the gardens and the compost pile around the same time.

I have raised no-till beds- started as lasagna. No frames. Been doing it for years. Production is unbelievable. Soil warms faster, drainage is great. No- you can't get a tiller or other wheeled power equipment in there, but you don't need it. The soil is so rich- throw compostables on top as a mulch, and let the worms do the rest. Double-dig if you need to.

Now, I live in southern NH. That is to say- "rustic" flies here. A frame would make it look neater, but wouldn't make my veggies produce any better.

They may or may not need more water- I dunno. I have so much yard waste mulch on mine that watering and weeding is kept to a minimum.

feldon,

Wasn't asking for anything to be said. :)

100% clay is not good and does require amendments for aeration and drainage. But there are varying percentages of clay that many people will have in their existing soil. A clay loam soil profile for instance has little need for amendments.

But there is plenty of this information at the Soil Compost Mulch Forum.

Originally posted by gamebird:
I was assuming that ALL other factors would be the same. If he intensively conditioned his soil to the degree that the standard raised bed assumes (ie, all new soil/compost/etc.), then the results would be the same.

Trying to condition the brown concrete we call "clay" here in Houston is backbreaking work. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone.

And even if you spend 5 years improving the soil and get perfectly fertile growing medium, it will still be surrounded with hard clay that can't drain worth spit. Your perfect soil will be sopping wet for days on end when the 2-day-long unscheduled unannounced torrential downpours arrive.

Originally posted by violet_z6:
Building a bed only takes less than an hour and once it's done, it's done and lasts for years.

I too have to call violet to the carpet for this absurd statement. Even if you have the lumber and the soil handy, it still takes several hours to dig up the grass, cut the wood, secure it, fill and till the soil into the bed, and grade it. SFG is good enough that it should be allowed to sell itself without trying to oversell it.

There is no question that you can get plants a lot closer together if you have good very deep soil. I did "rows" like the farmers do which is perfect for a harvesting machine but a huge waste in a home garden.

Re: Lasagna Gardening, I did not have bags of grass, leaves, newspaper, hay, etc. to get started with. And I wanted to get started immediately, not wait 6 months for the lasagna to compost. I may try lasagna gardening this summer and go ahead and plant in planting holes about 1 cu foot and filled with good soil. You can grow almost year-round in Houston and I don't want to wait. :)

I am glad to have switched to raised beds. I am trying lasagna gardening, and so far so good on that, as well. My soil is teeming with worms and has a good feel, now, and we have heavy clay here as well (though yours sounds even worse.)

But, as far as cons, the initial investment is greater --- and we receive precious little rain here after June - and I have had to use more water, which I'm not happy about. The results are better, and I won't go back to no-beds, but there you have it.

I am hoping that as I learn more about mulching that the water issue will diminish. I expect the roots on my plants will be able to go deeper, into the clay underneath, and so with time this will not be a concern.

But to say that there are no cons to switching, ignores the fact that you need to build and learn a new style of gardening. It's not hard, but it requires an investment.

Most of enjoy the process, so whether that investment is a burden for you or not will be a personal thing.

Some have strong opinions. You lit a fire with this question.

The reason I like them for vegetables is that you can completely control the content of your soil each season.

You can plant cover crops or completely change out your raised bed's soil or do a combination of both.

They look good too. Easy to make. I'm very handy. It took me 3 hours to build the redwood frame which was ~9 feet long, 2 feet wide and 12 inches tall. 4 separated planting areas approximately 24 inches long within the 9 feet, with 3 six-inch separated areas for planting marigolds or whatever between the 4 areas. Hardware cloth fastened to the bottom of the frame to keep any burrowing animals out.

4 tomato plants are taking over the world in my new raised bed. Peace deep

Here's a related question, maybe semantics, or it might be the core of it.

What's a raised bed?

In my garden, I desodded, then dug in last year's compost in a 40 inch wide bed. After all the digging and so on, the bed was about 4 inches higher than my walkways. I assume this trend will continue, since I plan to add more compost this fall. Maybe I'll soon need boards around the edges to keep the walkways clear (no sense in wasting good compost on the walkways!)

Is it a raised bed now? Will it be a raised bed if I put boards around it? Are raised beds only those beds that are initially built that way? (this last consideration is what I was thinking they were)

That fellow who wrote the Vegetable Gardener's Bible and advocates W-O-R-D: Wide beds, Organic methods, Raised beds, and I forget what the D stands for... (I have the book and like it a lot) Anyway, the beds in his pictures don't have boards around them and they look a lot like mine - just raised heaps of dirt with pathways. Though his pathways are neat and hay-lined, while mine are turf... and his garden is just so *pretty*... anyhow, are his beds "raised" beds?

"And I wanted to get started immediately, not wait 6 months for the lasagna to compost."

You don't have to wait 6 seconds, nevermind 6 months. Put in a soil pocket big enough to accomodate the rootball, or to start seeds in, and bingo- ready to plant. Never had an issue. YMMV if trying a rootcrop in lasagna- never did that.

"After all the digging and so on, the bed was about 4 inches higher than my walkways. I assume this trend will continue, since I plan to add more compost this fall."

Maybe, but depending on your soil, it will "eat" organic matter, so it won't be 4" higher when you add again, unless you have a mulch that decomposes and adds OM between now and then.

"just raised heaps of dirt with pathways. "

That's mine, too. Mine are higher than 4", but they are built on compacted sand and gravel and are mostly compost now. I just add more compostables every year, they shrink over the winter, and then I add more. They produce more than I ever thought I could.

gamebird,

A raised bed doesn't have to have a retaining wall of any kind. It's optional to provide a natural barrier to pests and to keep more of the water and soil in.

The D stands for DEEP. :)

If you look on pages 9 and 26-29, he shows boxed-in raised beds with lumber, etc. In his own gardens, he just uses soil.

Because the water table is so close to the ground in Houston, if we improved the soil 18" down, we'd have major problems every time it rains/floods with root rot. That's why I had to build up.

Okay, then I'm a non-boxed-in, raised bed gardener after all! I don't see a bright, defining line between "sticking it in the ground" and augmenting the existing ground (and thus getting a "non-boxed-in, raised bed".

Though I wonder what the original poster meant when he/she asked about "raised beds". I see that was his/her first question.

People do raised beds for drainage.

Eventually, a raised bed will improve the underlying soil. I just don't have that kinda patience. :)

"Organic matter costs money unless you have a compost pile already."

Well, it could, but it doesn't necessarily have to. For me it didn't. I picked up free llama poop, coffee grounds and fall leaves, and scrounged my neighbors' lawn clippings.

Kristin

Where I live ( N. Cal inland) they dry out quickly; In my last three beds I used a heavier mix which still drains okay for my winter crops, but doen't dry out at fast with sustained temps in the triple digits.Here's a picture; the album includes some more recent ones with my spring veggies as well.

I love my raised garden. I wish that my yard wasn't so hilly, I have slopes. There is so many positives of having them!!! I have only one negitive thing to say about mine- I have a mole in it that tunnels around and messes it up. Once I catch it there is nothing negitive to say...

gogarden,

Slopes simply mean you have the opportunity to create terraces. Just work "with" it...

Well all I can say is it is the only way to go when you have clay soil, or limited space, or in my case both. I would never garden any other way unless I had naturally occurring fantastic organic soil and unlimited sun-filled open space.

Raised beds, when managed systematically (keeping them planted on a rotation and mulching them well to conserve moisture) are outstanding performers. I harvest fresh food 10.5 months a year from my beds now, and I am still trying to tweak that. The soil in raised beds warms up more quickly and stays warmer longer than the soil at surrounding ground level - you can make this work to your advantage.

There are so many other accolades I could list for raised beds. Just build ONE and try it for yourself. Soon you will be building more. I started with two and now I have 14 frames, plus a whole bunch of bottomless large "containers" which are really just small raised beds. And still I am thinking of where I might squeeze more in. Feel free to email me with any questions.

Though I wonder what the original poster meant when he/she asked about "raised beds". I see that was his/her first question.

What exactly is a raised bed, is it seperated from the ground?

They were trying to find out what it was at all...

*wink*