On Sat, 14 Jun 2014 12:28:37 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 06/14/2014 09:14 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
Also a raised bed only 12" high is of no real benefit,
you'd do better gardening directly on the ground... unless you elevate
your raised beds to 30" get rid of them.

Hi Brooklyn1,

I am planning, as soon as the recession breaks, to
convert my back yard into several raised bed.

I have seen several I liked, but the were close to the
ground. Would you please elucidate as to why they
need to be 30" high? (I am a blank slate with a
black thumb at the moment.)

The only thing I though of was less bending and
stooping. But I am not going to go through that
kind of expense for it to fail.

Obviously saves bending/stooping, which of course is the only reason
to use raised beds. However the only reason I can justify raised beds
is for the handicapped, because otherwise they wasta a lot of
gardening space between beds, and it's a lot easier to use
conventional gardening tools with gardens on the ground;
tilling/cultivating. I think it's an inconvenience to have to climb
up into a raised bed garden to tend to gardening chores... I much
prefer working my garden on the ground. I know I'd not want to
operate a tiller while up in a raised bed, it's a pain to lift it up
there and it's dangerous if you need to quickly move out of the way. I
can understand someone living in a condo who hasn't much ground to
garden other than container gardening on a patio, but if you have land
gardening directly on the land is more advantageous in every respect
unless you are handicapped and can't bend/stoop. My vegetable garden
is 50' X 50', 2,500 sq ft is a good sized garden, were I to convert
that space to raised beds I lose a good half my growing area. I've
given a lot of thought to raised beds but considering everything it
can't be justified. The only way I'd consider raised beds is if I
became handicapped, but then I'd probably give up vegetable gardening
as no matter what there's no money saved, it's strictly a hobby, it
costs far less to buy produce at stupidmarkets and farm stands.