I second Mandolls method, and the corner stake idea to aid in leveling sounds like a great idea. When you have a single bed by itself, it looks just fine if it's a little out of level. But in my opinion, as soon as you start placing several beds together, it starts to look a little sloppy if they're all at different heights and degrees of level... simply because your eye can easily compare one bed to the next. Along those lines... it's all about what pleases your eye, and just "eyeballing the degree of level is fine. If level is very important, it's easy enough to use a level to aid you. Start by laying the beds in the location they're going to live. Once you've kicked them around into an arrangement that suits you, start at the highest point of your slope and level out from that point. You'll basically be lifting the down slope edges of the beds until the level looks right. Eyeball across adjacent beds to align them and put some sort of shim under them to hold them at the appropriate height. (Or utilize Mandolls stake technique) Once you've tweaked everything to a point that it pleases your eye, you should have created a series of wedge shaped gaps under your bed walls. Measure the height of the gaps at each end, transfer them to a board, draw a straight line between them, and cut the "wedges" preferably with a circular saw. Nail/screw these tapered pieces to the underside of your beds and you'll have a neat, organized looking arrangement of level beds for years to come. Having said all of that... If the gaps are only a couple of inches, you could simply shim them up with a brick or a small rock rather than taking time to do some carpentry! I apologize if I oversimplified the instructions not knowing your skill level. Best of luck!

My system works well for my needs. Unfortunately, I am not learned on picture posting - but will try to be as coherent as possible. My planters look similar to yours - I also have 9 in all. My only regret is that we didn't make them all the same size, life would have been easier - as far as the cages were concerned, best to have 2 for each box. I built PVC pipe frames - 2 frames to a box. The materials are readily available from Home Depot. The pipe is the usual kind used for moving water - about 1/2 inch size. The 3-sided corner fittings need to be 1/2 in. as well, and 8 are needed total. For each corner an adapter is needed because one side of the 3 corner piece is threaded (bummer), and a slide in adapter is necessary (not always easy to find). Also needed is a plastic pipe cutter (Home Depot), chicken wire, wire cutters, wire or rope for securing wire to pipe. The cages are about 3 feet high and covered with chicken wire - secured all around the pipe with wire/rope - leaving about 6 inches near the top to reach inside the cage and open at the bottom. Building the cage is not difficult, except for the corners - where the 3 cornered adapter is needed on each corner to secure the slide-in pieces together. (one side of the 3-cornered piece comes threaded - that's why). A quick glance will explain it. I didn't glue my cages - but plastic pipe cement can be used for that. Another piece of chicken wire can be cut for the top - I don't secure it - but I can drape fabric on top and around the cages - when planting young seedlings for extra protection and for weather protection. This is secured with either clips (ordered with the cloth) or with clothes pins. These cages work well for me. If all of the boxes are not in use at once, it is possible to move these cages from one place to another where needed - very light weight or removed entirely if plants aren't in need of protection. I also have used old rabbit cages - for smaller areas. These have bottoms taken out and are easy to move around. They were originally made with hardware cloth (Home Depot), simply by attaching end pieces together with wire clips onto the main body of the cage. The cages are simple to make, rolling out hardware cloth to size, bend to form edges and clip together. The sides need cutting to fit the main frame, and clipped. But I do like the PVC cages, and they hold up well year after year. But I would advise having the planters all the same size, to facilitate their use from one box to another. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

It's a win-win situation, but I'd plant directly in it. I think you might end up with a really nice crop. I just had to empty one of my raised beds and fill the bottom with compost just to get the soil height back up. If you remove the soil from your raised bed, what would you replace it with?

I grow all my tomatoes in raised beds. I grow at least 5 different varieties. Okay, I grow the Romas in an EB, but only cause I don't stake them and I grow so many that it's the easiest for me. I use tomato spiral cages. The only thing I've run in to (and changed when I reworked the north bed) is not enough water retention. Sooo, I worked in a heavier soil with something called "Gro-Bric" which holds 5x it's weight in water. To have fabulous tomatoes, in Fl...you MUST be diligent. You'll have to look out for whiteflies, tomato worms, blossom end rot, etc...but it's possible. (I use sevin dust...no problems at all using that). A lack of water (which is a problem in raised beds) will result in cracking, which isn't a big deal when you're canning or cooking, but is unattractive and if someone doesn't know what cracking is, they won't eat it! I actually use regular sand with a mixture of mulch, garden soil and other junk, but I bake out the nematodes every chance I get... lay 2 or 3 pvc pipes on the unused bed (or part thereof) put sheet plastic over that, weight it down with dirt around the edges and just let it sit in the sun for a few weeks. The temps get sooo hot under there that it kills all nematodes! You MUST have it in full sun, I do it when the spring veggies have had enough! When it's too hot for anything but okra, cherry toms and hot peppers, time to bake out nematodes! Good luck! OH, if you're away, you can always have a soaker hose on a timer. I water just before sunrise.