What soil mixture in a raised garden?

My wife wants to have a few raised garden beds for fruits and veggies. I have made the beds but now I don't know what kind of soil to put in them. I can get some local (Michigan) top soil, but I'm not sure that is sufficient. Any suggestions or am I over thinking it?

What soil mixture in a raised garden?
While you can use soil from the surrounding area, it is best to select the soil mixture that is ideal for the plants you are planning to grow. If the raised bed is really high, use soil from the surrounding area at the bottom.



Consider a Drip hose. You can use sprinklers or hand water. But a drip hose makes the raised bed more maintenance free and efficient. Add it at or just below the soil level . Make sure to work it in a pattern that will evenly cover the entire area in the raised bed.



Filling your raised bed starts with lots and lots of compost. Most raised beds contain far more compost than the garden itself. While you will want to add ample amounts of compost, and some decomposed manure, you should also mix in some regular garden soil.
Reply:In raised beds you need water-retentive soil, otherwise you will spend your life watering. You also need rich soil as you want to grow vegetables. The usual solution is to use the soil you dig from between the beds to raise the beds and mix it with a lot of compost (mushroom compost is great if you live in a mushroom growing area). If you need to buy topsoil for bulk, get some good local stuff. Check around to see if you have any sources of large amounts of free or cheap compost. Some townships have leaf composting schemes and you can go and dig it up yourself from their piles.