Hello, not sure if I am supposed to be adding something here in order to receive a response. Not sure what else to add. Just trying to figure out a way to cut down on the initial cost of filling a raised bed organically. Thank you! 

Hi Lesley,

Thank you for reaching out to the UVM Extension Master Gardener Program with your questions. I agree that filling raised bed gardens with only soil and compost can be expensive. I am personally curious as to how many raised beds you are starting with? Do you have good access to composting materials? To help answer your question and to give you confidence, in a practice some call Hugelkultur, people have been using logs, branches, twigs, and grass in the bottom of garden beds for a long time historically. I am sharing the following link that you can skim over so you can keep this in mind as you go along. The big material is placed at the bottom of the bed. You might determine that there are some parts of the practice that work for your situation.

https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/sustainable-landscapes-creating-a-hugelkultur-for-gardening-with-stormwater-management-benefits.html

The following interesting link talks about how to maintain the good qualities of the soil. Once you set up your beds, you will need to think about and monitor how the soil will change over time due to decaying and composting. After time, the materials in and under the beds will compost and shift making the composition of the soil to change. Information to pay close attention to in the Oregon article include the sections on - Common Organic amendments, Yard trimmings compost, and Leaves from deciduous trees.

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/ec-1561-improving-garden-soils-organic-matter

It would then be recommended that you get a soil test to see what might need to be added or changed. The following is a link that explains about the UVM testing lab and the 2nd article explains how you would interpret a soil sample result so you would know what to expect

https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agricultural-and-environmental-testing-lab

https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/InterpretingSoilTests.pdf

I am excited that you have such a great project going on!! Please email me if you have more questions.