we went with the new no till raised beds the last couple of years and have really liked them. we simply re-mulch on top of the old every year and not moving the soil seems to really keep the nutrients in, the drought was so bad last year that we had to stop watering from the pond and use house water until we just shut it down in august. the ponds are still only at a quarter of normal so we are planning on sizing the garden down this year. No water means no garden. I have a small greenhouse that I will grow a few things in until we find out what the temps are going to do this year. on the plus side the water levels got so low we had the pond enlarged so that once it does fill up we wont notice the grden being watered out of it once it fills up. note if you are going to use pond water you should keep the water moving with a fountain system.