With all due respect, raised gardening seems like it should be like non-raised gardening, except you don't have to dig out as much hard-packed soil, which can approach demolition work in effort. The crops are a little more accessible, and maybe the garden is a bit prettier. It is said that raised beds allow you to choose your soil, but of course you can do that without a raised bed. You just dig a ditch and fill it with whatever soil you want. It is said that nutrient replacement is easier in a raised bed. I sure don't understand that. I can amend a non-raised bed easily. It is said that raised beds offer more protection from burrowing animals. Well, you dig the ditch and put wire down before you fili the ditch back up. It is said that moisture control is better in a raised bed, but a properly dug and amended non-raised bed won't have any waterlogging problems. I've heard that crop rotation is easier in raised beds. That's simply nonsense. To be sure, in a cold climate, a raised bed will warm faster in the spring, but will cool faster in the fall. In a very hot climate, it may overheat. My beds are mildly raised, just because I've added enough to the non-raised beds that they've hilled up slightly, and I've put narrow boards around them to keep them from falling down. But maybe I'm missing something? Isn't it mainly for people who just don't want to dig or have very hard soil, or perhaps just a rocky base? In that case, there are certainly clever design options for building walls. Once you've built the raised bed, though, from the point of view of growing success, it seems like the net result is that your gardening altitude is just a few inches higher.

My beds are also only raised 6 inches or so. Not unlike Dan's. The edges are basically delineation, to mark the beds where I don't step. Keeps the soil loose and friable, weeds pull out easily, roots anchor and spread, microlife thrives, drainage is good, what's not to like? Having raised areas does indeed help with rotation (making and keeping plans). There are various concepts of what a raised bed might be. My friend has tall beds made with wooden sleepers or concrete blocks, Working at waist height is a joy but she had to spend a fair bit on extra topsoil.

I would look at some of Charles Dowdings books - he popularised a no-dig approach which can be scaled for any size operation. Lasagna gardening is a similar idea.

I agrre with the last 2 posts, a good book about raised bed gardening is The vegetable gardeners bible by Edward Smith

I am downsizing the vegetable garden considerably because such a big plot is too much work and constant upkeep that I just don't want to do anymore. Yes I could downsize and grow in the ground, but in my middle age I'm putting serious thought into changes that will enable me to age in place and continue enjoying my house and property and hobbies. That means switching over to raised beds that are somewhere around hip height. I've seen many in my family who are older than me who got to the point they couldn't bend, raise their hands above their heads, or heck even walk steadily anymore. Raised beds -- while no guarantee -- are at least some insurance that I can enjoy growing vegetables if I ever get to that point.

Even if I never get to that point -- it's just so much easier when it's all raised up. I asked DH to build me one bed to start for the strawberries. I had them in the ground, and even in my early 50's it was way too much squatting and bending tending to those things, so I moved them to a ready-to-assemble plastic thing-a-ma-jigs. That worked better but still not great, it was still kinda low. So he built one about 3' tall -- viola! What a joy to tend berries now -- everything is just reach in and quickly pull a weed or pluck a berry to stuff in my mouth. I'm not even old yet and I can forsesee what a game-changer this is going to be when I *do* get old (but hopefully not decrepit).

Here's a pic of what he built:

For the other raised beds, I'm going to have him build them to set right on the ground, not on legs. But he did a beautiful job on his first try, it's really sturdy and looks pretty good, too. (you can see the rest of the plot and how large it is, there's even more on the back side you can't see -- I'm looking to downsize size by about 2/3).

it obvious most of posters in this thread can not.read

it before answering.

book: square foot gardening by mel bartholomew

Although square foot gardening is usually associated with a raised bed, you certainly don't need a raised bed to do square foot gardening, and the converse is true as well. As noted, from a perspective of wanting info about raised bed gardening, it's mostly about how to engineer a raised bed. Once you have a raised bed, the methodology of planting and cultivating is pretty much the same as for non-raised beds. No question that a big advantage of a raised bed is accessibility. But hip high? We're probably talking stock tanks, or a planter on stilts, which is what I see in the posted picture. I guess you can call those raised beds.

I have this book, but it mostly provides ideas for raised beds of various heights and styles, and it looks like you have the design aspect already covered with the beautiful bed your hubs built.

"We're probably talking stock tanks, or a planter on stilts, which is what I see in the posted picture. I guess you can call those raised beds."

What else you call them? That is exactly what they are.

For those of you who responded with book recs, thanks - I'll check them out.

I call them containers on legs. But, to each his own.

mxk3 z5b_MI the picture is deeper but similar to an Amish salad table.

Re Amish raised bed, this is a clever design. Keeps the wood dry.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t23951-table-top-raised-bed