compost always settles or compost further so you need to top off the beds after every harvest OR keep adding enough mulch to break down further to maintain volume adding coffee grounds or dried grass clippings (herbicide free) as mulch will help retain moisture once the soil warms when tulip petals fall in western WA we don't have your heat, but we do have dry summers. your raised beds will warm more quickly than clay soil, so congrates for the mixture over time it just gets better & better if you keep adding compost we have to add lime yearly because of acidic soils & rain that leaches it out ask around what other raised bed gardeners do in your immediate area - that is most helpful to you What works here for us with small raised beds 1. check soil temps affects what germinates now more than soil mix later planted seeds catchup with early, so no rush until soil is at least 40 degrees (it's hard to wait when you want a garden now!) 2. grow what you love to eat or want to try to disguise in family meals because it's good for us (kale & swiss chard are grown here for those reasons) 3. plan for succession of crops & 3 season or almost year round growing spring planted: peas, lettuces, green onions from sets followed by summer warm weather vegs (trellis to save space & improve fruit quality or picking ease) save some space for midsummer plantings of fall & winter harvested crops 4. protect from pests such as: slugs, rabbits, deer?, dogs, cats, balls/frisbees... great ideas on SFG forum for cages (doesn't have to cover entire bed, just what you need to protect netting propped up with sticks covered by upturned water bottles/jugs upturned clear totes 2 windows as a tent or wire covered frames lots of creative options out there & something to keep you busy when you can't yet plant the garden Enjoy a productive gardening season! Corrine

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. For better or for worse as I took all 24 tomatoes out and as I said I filled back in to the grade that surrounds the bed. It is close to what it would have been if I just removed the sod and put the bed on top. I tamped as I filled in so it would be as solid as I could make it with 20lb hand tamper and a 15lb patio block dropped from over my head. Some of the fill was a little rocky but I did get a couple some good sticky clay layers in there to fill in the all the voids and make it as impermeable as the surrounding ground. It was contoured with about a 2 inch drop both along the width and length dumping to the lowest corner of the bed which is above ground so it can drain out. I also put in a drain from highest to the lowest point hoping that would catch any excess and dump it out. Looking at my soil mix either it had way too much organic material in it or it was just that way because it was soaked, I remixed it with some top soil, agricultural sand, peat and vermiculite and through in a some gypsum in between some of the layers as I filled it back in. I put in some super phosphate to hopefully get some roots going quickly also. The bed was raised another 4.5" inches also to meet the bed on its right. The tomatoes are now back in their final resting place, I guess that sounds bad. Hopefully with the grade coming back up to meet the rest, the slope, the drain, the remixed soil, and the additionaly height the bed will drain properly and the tomatoes will come back to life. Some of them took it worse than others but I hope they make it, if not I guess I can sucker off the other 12 I have in containers and use those.

I have not, but see no reason why they, or any other container wouldn't be a suitable and productive way to get gardening when one is uncertain of where they want a more permanent growing area.

<I keep reading advise about lining the bottom of raised beds with weed block fabric > Not sure where all you are reading this or why they would recommend it. What context are they making this claim in? I suppose there might be some circumstances where it might be helpful but it also has some negative side effects like poor drainage and even water ponding. How much of a problem that is all depends on how deep the beds are, the deeper the better. I know some have to use hardware cloth because of gophers and such. And some of us use a couple of layers of cardboard under a new bed to keep the weeds from invading but it decomposes within a year at best and then the vegetable roots have free access. And both those methods allow for good drainage. I think from my reading and my personal experience that most till up the soil under neath the bed or at least strip off the sod before constructing the bed. That way the roots, which don't stay right where you want them but roam all over, have easy access to the soil under the bed. In other words the bed isn't supposed to be a full blown container. It's just a framework to contain the sides of the soil. So what would be your primary reason for using it? Dave