$480 Worth of Vegetables in a 4' x 16' Raised Bed Garden

"There are many reasons for the raised bed revival, but probably the most important is more production per square foot of garden. In a traditional home garden, good management may yield about .6 pounds of vegetables per square foot. Records of production over three years in a raised bed at Dawes Arboretum near Newark, Ohio, indicate an average of 1.24 pounds per square foot, more than double the conventional yield. Raised beds do not require the usual space between rows because no walking is done in the bed to cultivate or harvest. Hence, vegetables are planted in beds at higher densities - ideally spaced just far enough apart to avoid crowding but close enough to shade weeds." (source: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1641.html )

A 4'x16' raised bed garden has the potential to produce 80 pounds of vegetables. If one assumes an average price of $2 per pound of vegetables and grows 80 pounds of vegetables during each of the three seasons in Central Florida, one could harvest $480 worth of vegetables each year (even more if selected vegetables were grown in the summer).