Definitely more, smaller beds, you need to be able to reach every part of the bed without climbing into it.

4ft. across is generally recommended assuming that you can easily reach in 2 ft. from each side.

Most of mine are 2 1/2 ft. deep at various lengths. They are on the perimeter of the garden with the fence attached directly to the wooden beds, so I can only access them from one side. It made the fencing really easy.(no heavy duty posts)

I have raised beds and use the Square Foot Gardening method. It's amazing what you can grow in a that small space. I would highly recommend the Square Foot Gardening book. It is a wealth of information for growing lots of crops in a small space. Best of luck to you!

I would do homemade earthboxers, or earthtainers I believe they are called here, for the tomatoes and raised beds for the rest. That's what I have here for my garden and it works well for us. The homemade earthboxes are self watering, so they give the tomatoes the constant source of water they need without the moisture changes of growing in the soil. My just thrive this way grown on my deck.

I would suggest the multiple 4 foot boxes; easily maintainable, easily accessed. Things like your potatoes will appreciate it.

I agree with the others on the size of your beds. 4' is typically a good width to work with, and it's exactly half an 8' board (you know not to use pressure treated, right?).

However, I think the height of the bed is personal preference and dependent on what you've got underneath. If you're going over soil, you could make them fairly short--8-12". That saves on the amount of compost and top soil you're having to haul in, reduces the amount of water (taller beds dry out faster), and takes the most advantage of the soil you're already standing on. Taller beds are good if you don't want (or can't) crouch low to plant and tend, or if you're planting over something poor like gravel.

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

4x4 is a good size. This year I'm making a 3x8' bed. Best wood is Redwood or cedar but they're not cheap. I'm using Douglas fir. 2x10x8's. Starting off with Pro-mix for soil then adding compost and leaves during the year.

Mine are 4'x8'x12". We are happy with the size, but I do grow my tomatoes elsewhere. If you are planning on having grass between the beds, make sure your mower will fit :)

Here is a link that might be useful: my zone 5 gardening blog (pictures)

My only concern about smaller size (altho 4' wide to reach across is what you want) is that the smaller the soil volume, the more you have to water as there is less of a reservoir. IMHO 4' wide, and long is better. As for the height, it is a cost to fill, but as you age you don't want to bend over to tend.

Dan

This is my third year with raised beds and I love them. I used decorative, self locking concrete blocks (no mortar needed) and built them myself. It was a BIG, dirty job, but I was able to do it by myself, and that's all I wanted. The first year, I made my beds two blocks high. Then last year, I added two more rows when the blocks went on sale. I had good gardens both years, but you should see the beautiful carrots I grew this winter in those deep beds! I planted my summer vegetables today and it was pure joy to work in that soil. It started out as a mix of very heavy wet (native) clay, compost, and horse manure. Everytime I replant (3 times a year), I add more organic material and turn and mix it. The hard work has paid off. Today was positively EASY.

You might want to check out the potager forum. Most of us there use raised beds and arrange and plant them in such a way that they are ornamental as well as providing food. I enclose photos of last year's garden during the early part of the season.

Here is a link that might be useful: My potager

Donna, that's a beautiful garden! And those retaining wall stones are wide enough to sit on. How wonderful! I'm in the same boat with raised beds. Not only am I on a slight grade and need to terrace my beds, but the older I get, the less energy I have for turning over our heavy clay. I love,love,love being able to take a trowel to my soil instead of a jackhammer, LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

I think you need to have as much square footage of growing space as you can get without having to step on the garden while still being able to reach everything to harvest.

To me I would go with a 3' wide bed all the way around the perimeter with a 4' wide open space to enter and leave the garden. That would give you a 4' wide entrance and a 4' wide path running down the center the whole length of the garden. If you really wanted to push it you could go with 3.5' beds all the way around the perimeter which would leave you with a 3' wide path running down the center. If you can only reach in from one side though I would recommend the 3' over the 3.5' unless you have a good strong back.

The beds could be built out of material as small as 2"x6" or as tall as you like. Most of my beds are out of 2"X6" material and then double dug to a total depth of roughly 18". I also have beds made out of 2"X8" and 2"X10".

I agree that 4 feet is a good width to use. That is the width I started with but it's not what I currently have. This year I had to remove my 4' x 10' due to too much shade. I could have spaced the new bed to the old, but I opted to combine them. I do have to step into it, but I think I'm going to like having one bigger bed. One reason is due to the water issue that Dan mentioned above. Here in AZ, I've noticed to perimeter of the beds dry out way to fast. I've started to plant my plants a little further in from the edge this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: My combined bed

Hi Beecho... I tried raised beds on my allotment in Cambridgeshire and gave them up. Unless you really do it properly weeds grow up from surrounding border, and since there's space wasted for paths in between raised beds it's not as space efficient as just having one large bed. You can still split a large bed into areas for different plants.

There's more info about my original raised bed design and why I changed away from raised beds at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Raised bed disadvantages