Raised beds vs. ground planting on my clay soil

I started my veggie patch two years ago and went straight into the ground with tomatoes and beans. Last spring I built two raised beds, 4 feet by 8 feet, and filled them with a mix of compost and topsoil. The difference in growth was night and day, the raised bed tomatoes produced almost twice as many fruits. Has anyone else had better luck with raised beds on heavy clay?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair59722h ago

Yeah I was totally team ground planting until I tried raised beds last year, total game changer lol

emmawood20h ago

Blame it on my stubbornness but @blair597 I still dig straight into the ground every spring and my tomatoes do just fine. Less bending over is just less gardening to me.

wadem8921h ago

Wait @blair597 you actually waited this long to try raised beds? I cant believe you suffered through ground planting for so many seasons. I switched to raised beds like 3 years ago and my back still thanks me every spring. My zucchini actually tripled in size once I got the soil mix right in those things.