I like your spirit! DOnt give up thegardens! I just moved a cold frame over my garden bed to try to keep the season a bit longer. I would try to soil and compost forum, that is big key in growing healthy plants no matter what type.
cheers and good luck.

I like a 12-16 inch rich deep garden to grow carrots well in, etc...

I grow my vegetables exclusively in 12" high wood-framed raised beds. They will definitely be the answer to your wet/drainage problems. I can get an earlier start planting seeds, etc., because the soil in the raised beds warms up faster and is drier than surrounding soil in yard, even if we have an extended rainy period.

One of our beds is also built as a cold frame just like you describe.

The soil in my beds is 8-10" high. You don't need to go that high, and sometimes I wish the level was lower so the soil wouldn't spill out when I am working it. 6" is sufficient. If you want to raise your soil up, add more compost, more topsoil, maybe some peat moss. Just don't add all compost or manure, as this will break down over time and the level will sink.

Laurie,

"Need more fill - level barely back at ground level. What is best to fill a raisedbed & how high?"

I like to use some sand to amend garden soil, along with compost. Last year I got a 6-yard load of sand and used it all in a month or two raising the level of parts of the garden that were low and needed better drainage. My wheel barrow came in very handy for that.

The sand has the advantage of not rotting down and settling. And it provides good drainage. But I am still making all of the compost that I can. I depleted all six of my compost piles this year and now I am in the process of making new compost piles for next year.

I may get another load of sand if the soil ever dries out enough to get another truck in here. Right now it is so wet that a truck might very well get stuck. I like to have the truck back right up to the garden to dump a sand pile where it will be handy to use. I may have to wait for the soil to freeze some before we can get a truck back to the garden this year.

For smaller amounts of sand, you can buy it in bags at some home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes. However, some sand meant for kid's sand boxes is really finer than is good for garden use. The sharp sand meant for mixing with portland cement to make concrete is better for garden soil. Just make sure there isn't any portland cement in the bag meant for the garden.

I use my Merry Tiller to mix the sand with the garden soil, but if your tiller won't start, you can mix the sand in rather well with hand tools like a spading fork, a hoe, a potato hook, or a bow rake.

MM