Another thing, I plan to use a soaker hose in the raised bed, I have seen some that say they put the soaker hose under mulch, back to the mulch question, should I mulch and what type? The additional question is, is a soaker hose an acceptable watering method? I know the ultimate would be the drip system but that seems a lot more complicated and costly than the soaker hose.

New soil usually needs fert until the critters find your soil a nice place to live. Use a lower formulation like a 5-3-3 or something, and more N for greens, and organic is fine. There is no reason to think a soaker hose is inadequate for the job. You can mulch if you wish, will help retain soil moisture, use something that is in your budget.

Dan

How much fertilizer would I need? Should I try to follow the recommendation on the bag?

I believe most of these are available to me locally, what would you choose and how much of it to go into almost a cubic yard of Hill Country Garden Soil?

http://www.ladybugbrand.com/fertilizer.htm

For the mulch, go with what's cheap and available but I would avoid wood mulch in the veggie garden. I use straw and/or leaves in mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

In my opinion, you don't need to do anything to the soil other than fluff it with your hands, and also remove any weeds that might be present.(This of course is assuming the ph is somewhere between 6 and 6.5) Fertilize the plants individually as needed, because each has different nutrient requirements. Learn which veggies are heavy feeders, and make applications as recommended by your local extension office.
Personally, I don't mulch - but know that it would be beneficial to do so.....

EG

Thanks everyone for the information!!

Definitely MULCH! It really helps keep the moisture in the soil in the hot summer months and also will keep the spray from your soaker hose from splashing on your plants. Mulch on top of the soaker hose. You can use straw, pinestraw, hay, grass clippings, chopped up leaves, newspapers, etc. Pretty much anything that keeps the weeds down but lets moisture in, will work. You want to try to make sure that any straw/hay/grass you use doesn't have lots of weed seeds in it, so get it from a reliable source or you'll be growing more weeds than veggies.

Susan