Pro tip: I gave up on raised beds after my neighbor's tomato haul at the Columbus fair

Victor Hill · 2026-10-19T00:45:04.492659+00:00

I swore by wooden raised beds for 3 seasons until my neighbor Dale, who grows in plain dirt out back, walked off with first place for his tomatoes at the Franklin County fair last August. He said his soil has been getting fed with leaves and coffee grounds for 12 years and he never built a single box, and that got me thinking about all the cash I dropped on cedar planks. This spring I'm ripping out two of my beds and planting straight into the ground to see what happens. Has anyone else switched back to in-ground after years of boxes, and did your soil really catch up?

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Pro tip: I gave up on raised beds after my neighbor's tomato haul at the Columbus fair | Backyard Veggie Patch - Chatter Central