With apologies to Hank, and shoe - @dave, using the 4 x 4 maybe you need to think 'outside the box' to not lose any growing room:

I definitely considered that but I wanted the outside to be square and didn't want anything jutting out that would cause me to trip.

Lookin' good to me, Dave! And you seem to have some red dirt like I do, or clay. Looks like you've mixed in some nice dark stuff though. That garden will look great this summer, no doubt about it.

Greene, yep, what Dave said, but I liked my outsides square 'cus it makes it easier to keep grass/weeds down if I have to mow/weed-eat along the edges. However, your suggestion would be perfect if someone wanted to put a 2X6" cap on top of the sides of the beds for a comfortable place to sit, and those 4x4 blocks on the ends - and one (or two?) along the middle length would give support to the ledge, eh? I made ledges on one persons garden and ran an extra 2x along the length underneath it for support.

Dave...this picture must be the epitome of the "coffin beds", eh? But with a ledge/seat on the side you can more comfortably view the dead. Then again, if those folks end up being good gardeners they'll be viewing the living. Yay!

(Shoe..who had spring here yesterday and now snow/ice moving in this afternoon. Go figger!)

That garden is a thing of beauty, Shoe! I love it.

The dark stuff I added is compost. I get a huge load of it delivered every couple years. When making these beds we like to mix up about half red soil and half compost. Our soil is mostly sandy but I have a few large piles of red clay soil that a local pool builder dumped on my land (with my permission.)

Boy-howdy I wish my tractor would handle a bucket like that. My days of a wheelbarrow and shovel are slowly going by, or rather I'm using a wheelbarrow more slowly!

I guess your soil out there is more alkaline so no need to lime it? And I reckon you need gypsom or something for calcium? Or maybe I'm getting too far off topic... sorry,

Glad you are taking pics. It's gonna be a great before and after pictorial.

Shoe, off into the rain a while before it turns to ice. Happy Day!

I couldn't live without this tractor. There's no way we'd be able to do half the stuff we do without it. It's one of the best things I've ever bought.

Our soil is actually quite acidic. I tested our bottomland once and it came back at a pH of 4.3. I do have a pile of ground limestone that I ordered many years ago and from time to time I'll take a bucket out of that and spread it around. For the most part, adding the compost seems to do a pretty good job bringing a bed into a pretty healthy range.

I guess the east side of Texas isn't in the alkaline area then. I keep hearing out "out west" soil is predominately alkaline. Good for you cus I think it is easier to raise pH than it is to lower it.

Enjoy that tractor!

Once you cross I-35 (a line from Dallas to Austin to San Antonio) the soil turns white and alkaline. On this side it's red and super acidic!