[feldon30]

If someone really does have good soil anywhere they dig (which in Houston is about as likely as picking the lottery numbers), then of course they can just mound up that soil and plant in it.

But since the rest of us have to truck in good soil or buy endless amendments, it is a cost savings to keep that good soil contained in a box and leave the walkways in their original packed clay form.

Because of the ridiculous torrential rainstorms we get here, with sometimes 1/2 inch an hour for 12 hours straight, if I just hilled up good soil, it would be washed away or scattered all over the yard several times a year.

I guess I like the organization of raised beds as well. It breaks down the garden into manageable projects. It's easier to think of getting a 3' x 16' bed sorted out than thinking of having to get the entire garden up and running all at once. The framework of the raised beds also allows me to use rust-free, cost-effective tomato cages of my own design. I know CRW is perfectly fine for 99% of people, but I don't like dealing with rusty wire when attending to my plants.

If I lived on old, productive farmlands as you do, I would just till up the loose, fertile soil, recharge it with some compost and other organic matter, and lay down straw for walkways.