Pastor Dwight;
For our specific situation Raised Beds make a lot of sense. The Stock Tanks are easy to maintain, no bending and we can easily change the soil conditions from year to year. Most critters don't bother to mess with them and since we have no immediate neighbors or a home-owners association to contend with, we put them right out in the yard off the kitchen/front door. Mowing around them is very easy and they look good if I have to say so myself.
The raised beds made out of 6x6's are a little more difficult to maintain and require some bending or sitting on the edge but very easy to grow some heat tolerant plants as this area faces southwest.
When we excavated the area of Slippy Lodge where we built the house, we found out it was Shale Rock. The house is on the very top of the ridge so when we scraped all the good earth away it was all rock underneath. The slopes/ravines are much better soil but you would never be able to put a garden in without a lot of time energy and cost. So Raised Beds made sense. They also act as their own self contained compost pile in the winter.
We do have a larger plot a couple of hundred yards from the house by our creek but it is not an easy walk and became inconvenient to ride the 4 wheeler just to do basic gardening chores.
We love our raised beds!