Permeable means it s ability to allow liquids to pass through. Chicken wire is fine if you have moles/voles but landscape fabric is only mildly permeable. Testing consistently shows it slows drainage substantially. It is not ever recommended for the bottom of a bed by experienced gardeners and it would have no effect on the moles and voles anyway. 75:25 compost:loam is high on the compost side and the quality depends on your definition of "loam". Means many different things. But as long as it isn't so-called "top soil" or sand a 50/50 mixture of it would probably work. More commonly you see the recommendation for 40:60. But you will have to add more compost at least once a year and better 2x a year as it continues to shrink as it decomposes. I get the impression you aren't interested in first trying to improve your native soil and incorporate it into the bed, correct? That is the best route to go. But if not then you need to understand that overtime it can affect whatever you fill your bed with unless you made some sort of solid bottom box which is not at all recommended. But you can still make it work with a framed raised bed on top of it with chicken wire or hardware cloth on the bottom IF you keep the bed well and frequently amended with quality compost. Over time the leachate and soil bacteria will improve the soil below the bed as well. Dave

marymcp here's a link to that old thread. I just typed Soil in the Search Window and it was the first one below the pinned threads. Keep in mind that the mulch from Singh Farms is a mulch and not a soil and should not be used as such. Also keep in mind that soil purchased in bulk for delivery tends to not be fully composted. Thus it should be in the bed and kept moist for a 6-8 weeks before planting. Here is a link that might be useful: Bulk Garden Soil for Raised Bed

If you have a good spade and garden fork digging out the weeds will probably take a few hours but will allow you to start using the beds this year. Once the weeds are out cover the soil with an inch or two of compost and add a quarter gallon of Steve Solomens's organic fertilizer per bed (4 parts cotton seed meal,1/2 part lime, 1/2 part bone meal, 1/2 part kelp meal). The lime helps combat the acidity of pacific NW soils and free up nutrients while the rest provides a great slow release fertilizer for your plants. Mix the compost and fertilizer into the top 3 inches of the soil and then water the beds well. Once that's done cover the beds with cheap clear plastic from home depot and secure the plastic around the edges with spare lumber, bricks or whatever you have to hand. Within a couple of weeks the soil will have warmed up and many of the weed seeds will have germinated. Remove the plastic and slice through the stems of the weed seedlings using a colinear or sickle hoe. This will kill them. Water the beds again and replace the plastic. After a couple more weeks you'll be able to kill off 90% of the remaining weed seedlings and plant your first plants into nice warm, rich soil. Good luck and let us know how it goes. SH

Square foot and similar intensive gardening methods require an especially rich growing medium to support the plants, and raised beds impact water retention. One thing you don't want much of is plain garden or topsoil, especially the bagged stuff available in garden centers or dirt companies. There are different philosophies on how to fill the beds. Some people prefer (and some locations benefit from) "double-digging" the garden bed and working in amendments when a bed is initially built. This was the method Mel Bartholemew originally recommended, and it is still being published in his book.Similar but less effective is using a tiller to first till the soil, then till in amendments. Afterward, a thick layer of a soil-less fill mix is applied to the top, possibly putting a fine sprinkle of clean soil where starting fine seeds. However, many gardeners have experimented and found no difference in production between beds that were tilled or double-dug and the no-till methods where the soil-less mix is simply placed in the raised bed over a degradable liner of newspaper or cardboard to suppress the existing grass and weeds below. "Mel's Mix" is the most common fill substance and consists of a mixture of approximately equal parts of compost materials, durable "brown" organics for bulk & drainage, and a water retention substance. Mel's Mix, now being recommended by Mel Bartholomew via his website, is equal parts by volume of compost, peat moss, and coarse vermiculite. Mel recommends using compost from 5 different sources to ensure getting a wide variety of nutrients for the plants. Some people plant in almost pure compost, others use a mix of compost and leaves. Compost is talked about at length in the Soil,Compost, and Mulch forum. Essentially, it is a mixture of organically based materials that has been allowed to rot in a controlled manner. Finished compost does not stink, and a properly maintained compost pile also has almost no odor to speak of. Compost can be made of anything - chicken droppings and sawdust, various manures and straw, household scraps and leaves, or lawn clippings and chipped wood or small branches. A good variety is helpful, but use whatever is available and cheap. For the initial filling of the beds, price bulk compost from soil companies or see if there is a mushroom plant nearby. Because of its uncertain origins, municipal compost is not recommended for vegetable beds. For a cheap source of bulk compost, look for a nearby mushroom growing operation.The durable organics used for bulk are primarily shredded (or not) leaves or leaf mold, coir, or sprangham peat. The use of peat is currently debated as to whether it is renewable, but has advantages when making beds of acid lovers (though using leaves of certain trees can accomplish a similar result).Water retention substances are available in a variety of forms. Cheapest is vermiculite, a naturally occurring mineral deposit. Perlite (perlized mica) is a a mined product that is "popped" to make a water-retaining matrix. It retains the least water and has a tendency to rise to the top of the bed. Expanded shale is also mined then expanded, but has percolation properties not present in perlite and holds up longer than vermiculite. There are new polymers (man-made) that come as granules and form a gel that absorbs and slowly releases water. Some climates and situations will have more need of the water retention component than others. Vermiculite can also be bought from pool supply companies (sold as pool base), specialty packaging supply companies (it is used to ship glass bottles of chemicals - also check with places that receive chemicals using vermiculite as packing material - school labs come to mind), hydroponic stores, and some nurseries keep the bulk bags in storage so you have to ask for it. It can also be ordered by feed and grain stores or similar outfits, though you may have to ask persistently to get them to look it up and order it for you. The cheapest vermiculite you can find will do, you do not need the fine "horticultural" grade of vermiculite for filling beds, the coarser the better. Contrary to popular rumors, there is *not* a problem with the mines or asbestos in currently marketed products, though wetting it down before mixing to eliminate dust and prevent it from floating up in the initial watering is strongly recommended.These last two components are one-time additions to a bed; once a bed is built,adding compost to replace nutrients used by the plants is the only thing the bed needs.If you want more info on how to make compost or the pros and cons of various methods of amending your soil, the Soil,Compost and Mulch forum can teach you more than you've ever dreamed of knowing about compost and how to make it yourself.