We buy composted yard debris from McFarland's. We use it as a topdressing and also a soil amendment. Love it.

Need somebody who has actual soil, rather than an artificial mix if you don't like how the latter tend to be prepared. Maybe there is someone in the area who is excavating an old lakebed and selling it to gardeners, for instance. That has been done up here. Maybe try going through phonebook listings and asking each of them what they've got.

Grimm's?

http://www.grimmsfuel.com/index.html

Best source I've found might be a bit of a drive, but if you have or can get use of a pickup, their material is what they use in their commercial potting mix. And thus doesn't have weed seeds and the like.

http://www.pro-gromixes.com/index2.htm (just copy and paste into a new browser window)

Their "spillage" potting mix is the best value but drains too fast for raised beds. Don't ask how I know...

Tillamook Compost is outstanding. I've never inquired about straight soil as such, I've just mixed their compost or pumice or "clay buster" with the clay I've got. Works very well.

Tom

>I've just mixed their compostIf you amend the whole bed and settling and returning to orginal condition later will not be a problem.

Dean Innovations on SE 101st and Foster that has awesome organic compost and planting soils. No web site that I know of, but the phone number is (503)281-1637.

Weird! We loved our Mt Scott mix. We did a huge amount of new bed making four years ago, and everything in the Mt Scott beds has thrived.

Mt. Scott has only one mix under cover. Depending on when you get them, some mixes can be wet and dense. If you get a big scoopful with large clods, it can take some effort to break them up. All of our Mt. Scott materials have done well.

The 4-way compost I've purchased from Mt Scott Fuel has been decent - the plants seem to grow well, but last year I bought one of the inexpensive soil test kits and recall that the nitrogen level was very low (almost non-existent) and I think the phosphorus was also low. The K+/potash was high and the pH was decent.

I just bought more soil from Mt Scott and will be amending it before planting. I also add worms and aged soil to seed the new soil with the correct organisms because their soil seems fairly 'dead.' The slugs, not surprisingly, find their own way back.

Mt Scott's Fuel, yuck! Several other gardening mixes out there comparable too cedar grove's vegetable garden mix. Try flexible copper rings around peppers and tomatoes to ward off slugs.