When I gardened in the 1970's, a man used one of these to till my 20 by 30-foot garden every spring until I bought a used TroyBilt tiller. That tiller must have been 20 years old and I used if for five years then sold it for what I paid for it. I doubt I could handle it now, 50 years later.
8'x6" with a height of 6": I would make stakes from 2x4 treated lumber, drive in each corner and every 2' around the inside perimeter, then use two 8' and one 12' cut in half treated deck floor for the sides, screwed to the stakes with decking screws. That will hold 24 cu ft of material. I'd shop the bags then compare to a delivered price before deciding. It's okay to get extra if that's cheaper. You can crown the center, spread it around other places, pile it for later, give to friends/neighbors, etc. For me I wouldn't pay more for less just to not have extra.
If there is room for you to store some extra soil, it's not a bad idea to have some on hand to top up the beds because it does settle a few inches in the first year.
It's always fun reshaping a plot. With water-retentive soil it's important that excess surface water have a path to drain away so as to not to form a puddle and drown the plant roots. Porous soils and infrequent rain conditions may benefit from the opposite condition where the plants are in a bowl to bogart the rain water. A raised bed would seem less susceptible to flooding, but not necessarily... whatever the architecture, excess water needs some facility to prevent ponding, above and below the surface.
It's been difficult to find any seedlings this year. I saw heirloom seeds for sale on Etsy but even Facebook Marketplace had no vegetable seedlings. We may just plant a bunch of Watermelon this year.
I like to add the charcoal from my fire pit as an aggregate to keep the soil from compacting too much, it also helps retain nutrients where the plants have access to them. Sheet composting in the paths can help improve the native soil over time and help soak up the excess water, as the mulch breaks down it creates this spongy consistency. Some of the best soil in my yard right now is in the paths of my garden, lol.
I like the raised beds I seen pictures of on this thread. I have a small area of raised beds on a slope I used rail road ties, but wife took most of it for flowers and herbs. Since I have several boards on my deck that are getting bad, I plan to replace them and use the old boards to make several true raised beds. That will wait until after stay home is lifted. But can start layout, and have a plan to use a few stones and other things. to try to make it nice looking. I want to fill beds with some saw dust since I have free access to it. And I will have to buy some compost, my compost pile seems big when it's time to turn it, but once I start spreading, it doesn't go far.
Another star of my garden; Purnslane, normally it is considered as a flower, but can be eaten from the stem to the flower, and is very high in omega 3..
Most of my plot is clay. I plan to use a layer of peat moss as the base then blend in my excess dirt with compost. Peat moss and horse manure were the basis of my garden in the 1970's. Sometimes I drive past the old house and laugh when I see the bright green grass where the garden used to be. It's a shame they didn't keep the garden.
I might have to try that if they become a problem. The coyotes, bobcats, and hawks have thinned out the our furry pests, so they may not be too bad this year.
With food prices going up. I hope to harvest as much as possible. Racoons know when the corn is ready, and can to a lot of damage in a short time.
One thing I've learned is that while depositing that stuff straight into the garden bed is beneficial over time, results are better from aggregating that stuff in a dedicated compost pile to break down away from the plants then adding the broken down compost to the soil - preferably at the beginning of the season (like now) to feed the plants from start to harvest.
Because of my limited space, I am looking into a concept called Square Foot Gardening. Anyone have any comments?
Found a rabbit nest being constructed under one raised bed, so we just lined the pickets with wire fencing, Tomatoes, peppers, green beans, zucchini, peas, lettuce, strawberries, and radishes all in!