Railway sleepers are ideal to make raised beds in your garden as they are sturdy and very hard-wearing. There are many advantages to growing plants in raised beds as the soil can be specific to whatever it is you want to grow. So, if your garden has a naturally heavy clay soil, then you can have a raised bed with a more acidic sandy soil which may better suit certain plants. The soil in raised beds rarely becomes compacted and this allows excess water to drain more quickly and, in the Spring, the soil in raised beds will warm quicker allowing you to start growing plants earlier in the season than in the rest of the garden.
Some vegetables thrive in raised beds. Carrots, parsnips and beetroot flourish in loose, friable soil where there is space to spread out. Leafy vegetables like spinach and lettuce enjoy the quick draining soil of a raised bed as they do not like to sit in water-logged soil. The same applies to onions which also need a long growing season. Dig in plenty of compost when growing onions as they grow best with lots of organic matter in the soil. Tomatoes need a nutrient rich soil to thrive and again, a raised bed allows you to customise the soil especially for tomatoes. Potatoes need loose, loamy soil that drains well and they are perfect for growing in raised beds. They are also easier to harvest in a raised bed and should not suffer from rotting tubers as the soil in a raised bed is usually better draining.
So, if you are new to raised beds, try starting with one or two of the vegetables above and enjoy the results of your cultivation a few weeks later.