"anthony123hopki" wrote in
message ...

Hi

I am preparing my raised beds for some early spring sowing. I put in
some manure a few months ago. Over the last year or so the beds have
really settled down and so there is plenty of room to add more to them.


I was wondering if it is better to add pure compost or topsoil or a mix
of both.

use whatever you have. Nicely broken down and crumbly compost is fine. Top
soil is good. If you have both. mix them together and use. There is no exact
science as far as I am aware. The manure you set down should supply a decent
amount of nutrients. Compost or topsoil will have other nutrients. The key
is to keep on adding every year of so composted manure or compost to keep
nutrient levels up. What you have sounds fine. If things do not work out do
some investigation then to determine what the problem may be.

A soil improver is basically organic matter is whatever form (compost,
manure, leaf mould etc) that is worked in to the soil to 'improve' the soil.
That is, a soil rich with decayed organic matter is better than a soil with
little decayed organic matter.

I have a heap of organic matter ibn my raised gardens andn it works for me.
I obsessed for a couple of years about putting it in to the soil. Having
seen that things work ok without my obsession, I just add the inputs & let
the plants get on with growing.

rob