well it looks like we are alone, I am currently extending my Garden with a 4x8 bed what you are doing is called square foot gardening I was reading the other day where you should 2 Cubic feet of compost, 1 bag manure, 1 pale of peat moss, I for one would not use top soil unless it was black, I think if are growing vegetables with the manure compost from lowes or homedepot you can fill your box's up with process manure, but if you go the a farm and get raw cow manure the liquid from scraping out the barn 15 Gallons would take care of it for 2 years but you would have to do it in the fall so it could sit, i use it out in Ohio and the snow would not stay on the garden, that season I got 80 Lbs of tomatoes from each plant, where about do you live in N. E. PA, because I live in the same area but i am in the mountains right in the poconos in Shohola,

There is a soil, compost and mulch forum. If I could guess what they would say on there is not to add more than a few inches, and don't plant in it the same year as you put this stuff in there, UNLESS it is composted manure. I would ask on that forum anyway, because I am guessing. I hope you get a simple answer, sometimes people have different advice, and can have disagreements. You will be asked if you tested your soil, and you added manure because the test showed you needed something in your soil. Let me shut up. A few inches should be fine, but don't plant there for a few months, in other words next year. My guesses, I'm no pro.

Bagged manure is not the same as using fresh manure, Like already mention a few inches should be fine, I personelly would just mix a shovel full in each hole if planting tomatoes or peppers, Best bet is too put about 3 inches of soil in then 3 inches of fresh manure then finish with soil.

I personally would be afraid to use manure the same year as planting, bagged or fresh. To each his or her own though. I am no expert.

Bagged manure is usually (not always) very incomplete compost. Your nose can tell you that right up front. If stuck with access to only bagged manure, I wouldn't use it in the soil but would gradually use it over the months as a top or scratch-in dressing. Use non-manure compost instead. That's just my opinion.

The one thing to avoid at any time is any meaningful quantity of steer manure or steer manure with compost. That originates from feed lots and is seriously heavy with salt. People can deal with a lot of salt in a bag of manure, but it becomes problematic as you scale it up. It's all because of a diet / calculi / urination / castration thing. "Dairy" manure doesn't have that problem.

Fresh does have a problem with excessive nitrogen but it's often (when dealing with large animal manures) a urine problem. Composting, (cold or hot) quickly eases that threat. Again, some people can deal with that without a breaking a sweat.

The third problem can be the threat of communicable disease organisms. That is a hot topic and people will disagree strongly about how big a threat, if at all, that is. Long term gardeners with enough spare room will be able to let that manure sit and cold-compost for a considerably long time without inconvenience. People who want it now might try denial. Bagged manure might be six weeks old if they're rushing it out in high season. Personally, if it's not old, I grow non-edibles in it for a season and don't worry about it, but I have the room.

Unless you irrigate, if you are in a dry weather area, like cold weather is evil, the salt issue is a very big deal. Just mentioning it. I am sure many peeps on here already know that, but just in case, I mentioned it.