This year I started with containers, had tomatoes among several othere things. My containers had 10" deep dirt. Soon I found that it was not enough. The tomatoes get roots taht are 3-4 feet deep. Basil on the other hand has pretty shallow roots. Then I moved my plnats to true raised beds, 1 foot deep fill plus dirt ground below. They grew fine. Had good crop of veges that are heat tolerant but not others. See, the high heat this year was not a conventional garden year. I had lots of eggplants, okra, yard long beans, cucrbits (until temps went over 100), almost no tomatoes even though had flowers but no fruit set and my understanding is that temps over 95 are not good for setting tomatoes. Your one foot deep contianer will do fine for the leafy veges, beans, peas, herbs, short varieties of carrots and radishes, turnips, etc. If you search the net for "depth of plant roots" you will find plants that have very deep roots (3-4 feet), medium (1-2 feet) and shallow roots. Another problem with your container may be: plywood is resting on the concrete without spacers (feet). So, the plywood even though has holes, is not actually draining. Raise the whole container up on couple of 4X4s so the plywood is not resting on the concrete, like a container is supposed to have free draining hole in the bottom. Giid luck.

When I built my current framed beds 20 years ago, I used PT lumber. At the time, it seemed like the best idea since sliced bread. But after 20 years, I have to wonder just how much is left that can leach into the soil. And the newer ways of treating wood do seem to be a lot less potentially harmful that the old arsenic compounds. So I am a bit conflicted about what to say now. After thinking on it for a while, I would say that I sure wouldn't re-use any of the old PT wood to make new frames, probably wouldn't buy new PT wood, and plan to replace my existing frames (and the soil within) with either artificial wood or cinder blocks (and new soil). The artificial wood is not cheap and isn't terribly strong either (thinking of how often I put pressure on the frames while turning the soil to add compost). I think I'll redo my deck tops with it (adding more joists), but use cinder blocks to replace the old PT wood garden bed frames. And I kind of like the idea of having the holes in the tops of the cinder blocks to plant flowers in all around the edge... I'll have to learn about cementing the blocks together though (an undiscovered subject for me at the moment). On the other hand, if I had some reason to use PT wood (like having a bunch on hand or a cost consideration), I would line the bed with pond liner (best) or black plastic (OK). That would have to minimize any leaching, I think.

Hi Gabe from a fellow PNWer. Don't know how much further you are in the raised beds, but here's a suggestion anyway. Do you have any place locally that gathers recycled building materials? We do have such a place locally. They have old windows, doors, toilets, bricks, etc. On any given day you could find who knows what. Perhaps this is not common elsewhere, but it is here. I was thinking such a place could be quite a source for you. Prices on materials would be much more reasonably priced than at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. Cinder blocks would be quite the ticket for me. Resiliant and long lasting. Another thought would be to visit your county extension service. If there is not an office nearby that you can visit, perhaps they are on-line. I am lucky to live in a town with a local extension office and they serve a wide area of Oregon. They are really good. Not the case for everybody, so I have been told. But it's something you might look into. Our local office promotes alternative gardening for those who may need a little help. A year or two ago they displayed a big table filled with dirt. I think it was about 4 feet wide, 8 feet long. Maybe a foot deep. Obviously, such a table would stand in place once it was built. Your mom could stand and garden. For someone in a wheelchair, it could be built a bit lower to the ground. We get about 40 inches of rain a year. I don't know if they use anything special to protect the tables. The local extension agents know and practice organic gardening as much as possible as near as I have been able to tell. anyway, such a place may provide you with some good ideas. Best wishes. It's neat what you are doing for your mom. Mary

The old CCA Pressure Treated wood could leach out Arsenic which you could possibly pick up on your hands and if you did not properly wash them might ingest some of that Arsenic. It tool some 50 years for the researchers to discover this about the CCA PT wood before it was removed from the market so it really remains to be seen about the others. The EPA seems to think that the concerns about the Arsenic were overblown now and it is considering allowing CCA PT wood back on the market. If Pressure Treated wood is used to make raised beds the plants that grow nearest that wood need special care in handling if that PT wood leaches some of the chemicals so you know they have been washed off. Plants generally do not pick up these heavy metals since they are not needed for growth.