Todd wrote:

about raised beds...

if you have no need for them they are
a waste of space, materials, expense,
efforts, ... many people do them because
they see others doing them and not
because their site requires it.

David gives a good list of reasons for
having them. i won't repeat that.

i'd get rid of every raised bed we have
if we didn't get flooding once in a while.
as it is i'm combining smaller ones into
larger ones every chance i get and
reclaiming pathways for garden space too.

for your particular area and case Todd,
i'd look into permaculture ideas for arid
climates, it will help you a great deal
in the longer term to figure out your
water capturing and other hardscape or
landscape features before you put a lot of
effort into getting gardens going. there
are plenty of good books on the topics
involved and also much available on-line.

(one site has a ton of references for free
http://jubilee101.com/ could keep a person
busy for years reading)

not that you can't have gardens or raised
beds right away, but if you set them up now
with the idea that you might want to move
them in a season or two then you won't lock
yourself into a poor design.

piling up garden soil, firming the edge
and mulching it will do well enough for a
season.


songbird