What soil mixture do you use for starting raised garden beds?

Quality mix and price are proportionately related. The best you can do is 1/3 peat moss/pro mix, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. But it is not cheap.

The cheapest you can do is likely some bulk raised bed mix. You will get a lot of sand though and the soil will be heavier, not drain as well, and generally be less productive without amending it.

For raised beds, you are really looking for planting mix as opposed to soil.

I buy from a place local to me that sells a "raised bed blend" for $60/cu yard.

Blend of Aged Pine Bark, Compost, and sand.

LINK

You might have a similar place near you.

This is what I've done with really no scientific reason. I've used a mixture of Peat Humus, topsoil, potting soil, and garden mixture. I top the garden each year with a dressing of cheap shredded mulch and at the end of the season till that into the bed. I amend the soil every year by adding humus and garden mix. I'm in my 12th year with this and I have no complaints and have been able to grow all that I have tried except orange and yellow belle peppers. Lastly, When I catch a few bream in the pond, I add the heads to the garden.

Google Mel's Mix. This is the way to go. It's what I use in my raised beds. 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 blended compost. Can't go wrong. I never had much luck with those bulk blended soils that nurseries sell.

I had to deliver a load of river silt yesterday to two places. I have a 6X10 dump trailer. My cousin owns a dirt/silt pit, south of the new bridge in West Baton Rouge Parish. He has a number of trucks, when the rivers down, he moves it from the river side, over the levee. When the rivers up, he’s sitting on tons of silt.

Depends on how much you need, a dump trailer is quick and easy.

You can find it in 4 cubic foot bags. Not sure where you are, but O’Keefe’s in Covington had 4ft^3 bags for $40 a few days ago. Cleggs should as well. Check feed stores or co-ops. You want coarse vermiculite - not fine.

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Google Mel's Mix. This is the way to go. It's what I use in my raised beds. 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 blended compost. Can't go wrong. I never had much luck with those bulk blended soils that nurseries sell

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Same. That’s what it was referencing in my post as well. It is expensive, but it works incredibly well so it’s worth the money to me.

I did a 4' x 8' cinder block garden last year. I used a mixture of garden soil and raised garden soil mix which was all in bags. This worked well for my wife to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. I plan on planting some red onions in the cinder block cells in a week or so.

I used a mixture of raised bed garden soil and inground garden soil. Whatever came on sale that is what I used. My wife had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year with that mixture.

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will likely be full of weed seeds.

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I used some this Spring(that's how I found out it was actual soil) and has zero weed issues.