permaculture

["lynnann" <lynnann@newnorth.net>]

Absolutely...when you can't go down.....go UP...(I lived in Southern Illinois 
for many years and did only container and raised be gardens).

The older I get...the deeper/higher my raised beds get....way less back 
strain and I can control the quality of what my plant babies grow in.....and 
believe me...they thank me.  I also get to look at them at a more "eye to 
eye" level.

We have wonderfully well drained sand here...so much of our gardening is in 
"trench" gardens or container gardens.  Here at my garden center...my 
container veggie examples are robust and huge...my ground veggie examples is 
pathetic.  My trench garden is wonderful and my raised bed gardens are the 
most beautiful of all.

Now...that said...one thing folks up here in zone 3 (sometimes 2ish) have to 
remember is...mulch mulch mulch (my mantra) for winter....raised beds don't 
have MOM's warmth that protects our plant friends that are planted in the 
ground (although I mulch them as well)...so we have to give the raised beds 
extra blankets and I even mulch the sides of my raised beds with straw bales. 
 I have endless supplies of composted shredded hardwood...it turns even the 
sand into exquisite loamy growing material.

It sounds like you do have a wonderful gardening area...go for it...love and 
peace...lynnann