A person just asked pretty much the same question over in veg. gardens.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg031634179281.html?2
One answer was that if you could afford it, was to use 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 perlite. For the top foot or so. Fill cheap dirt on the bottom.
You peat, manure and perlite sound like the same to me.
Good lick, Kenny

Hey there! DonÂt you be dissing our "soil!" LOL! And donÂt feel lonely when youÂre digging in it eitherÂgarbage, uh, I mean, "that kind" of soil is what weÂre all planting in! ThatÂs why RMG is great for moral support!

EverybodyÂs gonna have a different opinion of what you should use in your raised bed, Mark. If it were me I think IÂd look for somebody that carries a "planterÂs mix" or something similar in bulk and get however many yards you need. I know you canÂt get it here, but I just checked Timberline to see what kind of mixes they have, and what they call PlanterÂs Mix has way more "top soil" in it than I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of the EKO PlanterÂs Mix they list, but that sounds kind of "rich" for veggie garden soil to me. Guess I recommend going where you hope to get it and check out their mixes, looking for something thatÂs obviously better than top soil and has enough organic matter in it to make it easily workable. (Check them out when theyÂre moist if thatÂs possible. You can get a much better "feel" for what theyÂll be like to plant in when theyÂre moist.)

I have my own opinion regarding perlite and vermiculite! I havenÂt used it for a long time, but in the past when IÂve used vermiculite IÂve had a terrible problem growing things. I have a real problem accurately judging the moisture level with vermiculite and IÂd tend to keep things too wetÂtho IÂve never used it in any outside application, so maybe with our dry climate it would be helpful in an outside bed. And perlite! Well, itÂs just my thing, but, in my very persnickety opinion, soil isnÂt supposed to have white spots in it! LOL Otherwise I donÂt really have anything against is, but if youÂre starting with a fairly decent mix anyway, IÂm not sure youÂd need it, and it's pretty expensive stuff.

Bottom line, for veggies, as long as you have some soil combination that doesnÂt pack down like clay, and has enough organic matter to hold moisture and nutrients, I think itÂs gonna work just fine for you!

We might all have garbage for soil, but consider the beauty that goes along with the poor soil! ItÂs worth it!

Skybird

If you're going to spend that kind of money for that amount of vermiculite, better to buy Turface (infields on decent baseball diamonds) than verm or perlite. I don't like the white dots everywhere, and we planted some trees behind center field wall in Coors Field and that Turface is really nice material.

But to the larger point, you can't find someone who makes decent man-made soil around there?? Eh?

Dan

Mark, you can look at the recipes for growing mixes linked below. There are quite a few to chose from.

Just as an example, and following the list of ingredients you suggest, here's one possibility: 40% vermiculite, 30% peat moss, and 30% composted cow manure.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Potting Media - ATTRA

Dan,

There was a topsoil company that went out of business last year. Years ago I used sawdust from long abandoned sawmills that are out on public lands Dolores and Mancos areas) but I'm sure those "deposits" are depleted by now.

It will likely be this fall or next spring when I do this so I'm just kicking ideas around. Hopefully that "man made" topsoil niche will be filled again by that time.

Skybird. Yes I am dissing the stuff that I walk on here in the Rockies. If I had enough time, I could wash the clay from the Cretaceous rocks that cover my hillside. Might get a pickup load after a year or so. No water though, for washing.

When I amend the soils I've been planting in I use Peat, perlite and a little manure although the latter component is not that easy to come by here. I might have to take a belly dump to Washington, D.C. for a load of some real stinky stuff!

Thanks, Mark

Mark, there were a couple of guys around here who mixed soil, but I don't think they're in business anymore. Check out the aspen processing plant in Mancos for organic matter - they have some mountain of decomposing bark, and thats where the soil guys used to get their stuff. I have no idea what it costs now, the place changed hands, but there used to be a 'cash price' and an 'official' price.

For horse manure, around here just about everybody in the county owns at least one horse, out standing in the field. And most of them have a manure disposal problem. So if you ask if its ok to haul it away, they're pretty happy. Show up with a dump truck and a tractor with a front loader, and you're set.

Mark, back in WA state where I used to practice planning, we had every third Billy Bob parcel with a screen and a conveyor and a pile making soil, and now here every Tues-Thurs I drive by a property where the guy is doing the same. As long as there are dead trees (aspen decline and MPB do a nice job in Colo) then you can find material for soil and usu someone grinding and screening.

But returning to the original context, IMHO you don't need perlite or any of that stuff. My has ~28 cy capacity, no perlite/verm/Turface and man-made planter mix and I don't need any of that added mined stuff. My seed-starting mix is SuperSoil with no perlite in it and the elements are big enough that the aeration is maintained, and I fork up the soil in the spring. Not a problem, soil very productive. I'll be planting peas, onion seed, potatoes very soon.

Dan