Those are some tall beds...I'll assume you're building them strong enough to handle the weight of the soil + moisture they'll be taking on.

This sounds like it won't be an intensively cropped vegetable bed, too.

The first few feet of soil in the bottom of the bed can pretty much be cheap top soil. I wouldn't bother with anything rich (compost/high quality organic matter) except for the top 12-18"...which I'd mix 75/25% to 67/33% topsoil/organic. Over time the organic matter in the top 12-18" will work it's way down a bit deeper adding to the soil profile (watering, worms, roots, etc).

As far as some of your amendments...you're going to want lime or gypsum depending on the pH range of plants you're shooting for, not both...the blood meal is best used closer to the surface where roots can quickly utilize it rather than being washed away by watering/rain.

Also, pine bark fines take a long time to break down...way longer than any hardwoods or softwoods. You might want to use that as your mulch without incorporating it into your soil. Some people use peat moss in their outdoor garden beds...I avoid it...it's use in outdoor garden plantings is debatable and I choose not to enter into that particular debate.

Any organic amendments added as a top dressing in seasons/years following will also work their way down adding to the soil profile without disturbing what's been planted.

This post was edited by nc-crn on Sun, Apr 7, 13 at 4:14

All you need is soil and compost and in the 75-25 (or similar) proportions. All the other stuff is unnecessary. Unless you are planning a highly cropped vegetable area, there is no need to overthink the process. Soil is soil - as long as it has reasonable fertility (the compost) and adequate drainage (which most raised beds provide just by virtue of being elevated) the vast majority of landscape plantings will be perfectly happy.

This combo should also result in a pH of just around neutral or slightly below, which the most plants are prefer. If you have questions about pH, by all means test, but 30 years experience in this business and familiarity with a huge range of plant types has established that most plants with very few exceptions tend to be tolerant of a rather broad range of pH. And if you hit the slightly acidic to neutral range, you are golden. And fwiw, gypsum has NO effect on soil pH anyway.

I would hold off on any additional nutrient sources until next season - the compost component to the soil will provide all that's needed now. Then, if warranted, supplement with an all purpose fertilizer or topdress with organic matter/compost.

Skip the peat moss, epsom salts, bloodmeal, bark fines, potash and gypsum. And unless the soil is far too acidic (lower then 6.0, highly unlikely), skip the lime. All of this is an unnecessary and unneeded expense.

"And fwiw, gypsum has NO effect on soil pH anyway. "

Yeah, this is basically true. If you have a saline soils...which wouldn't be the case with most topsoil or any compost...it can take up/replace Na in the soil and it has a pH effect that's a residual benefit for other cations in the soil, but that's a special case for soils and it's not the first choice for pH remediation. It's more of a slight benefit for these special soils. For all intents and purposes it's rather neutral. I was a bit careless throwing that out about gypsum.

This post was edited by nc-crn on Sun, Apr 7, 13 at 15:58

yes lots of gypsum, where clay is. we have used lots of mushroom compost with all sorts of material under eg.,. cardboard, paper, pruning's and as the beds are deep enough hide broken; bricks, tiles etc.,. down there it won't effect the plants negatively and saves dumping the stuff.

if nothing else maybe consider using that recycled stuff from the refuse tip, make yourself aware of what may be in it(been threads on it in the past)

only bring in soil if you have some idea of its history, lots of interesting stuff hidden in those sorts of products.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens bale garden