what brand of bagged soil mix is best for raised garden?

I used a mixture of mushroom compost, peat moss and vermiculite after trying several pre-made mixes.

Does it have to be bagged? I filled mine with a yard of garden soil (bought in bulk from Naylors and most recently from LA Nursery) + vermiculite + peat moss and every year I top off with a few bags of composted chicken manure.

Most bagged soil seems to be AWFUL lately. Most of it is very fine chaff or wood particles. Even the top dollar bagged soil is more like fine mulch than dirt.

If it is big enough order a 6 yard truck from Hollis Kinchen. His son runs it now since he died but they make a vegetable garden mix and a flowerbed mix. Actually I think it’s an 8 yard load. I put one in the country and it’s 4 years old and I just add compost and chicken shot each year.

quote:

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chicken manure is @45% nitrogen

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I don’t know about chicken manure. But chicken litter that you can buy which is what they clean out of chicken house is about 3% nitrogen.