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First off, well done on the beds. I'm a fan of deep raised beds. Let's be honest, they look great, are easy to work on and ... well, they look great! Some people question the sanity of such an approach, but thus far in my very short and mistake-riddled journey I've found that whatever you do will meet with a mixture of responses.
Many people mention the cost of filling beds, but it's a one-off cost, and if you've a few years left in you, it'll be a very small cost indeed. My beds are 2.4 x 1.2 x 0.6 metres, and they've costed about £10 and a bunch of sweat to fill!
I do have a fair old heap of topsoil. I spent a few days scouring the locality for compost (as it'll be a year or so until mine is ready) and found a store willing to sell me 1500 litres of bagged compost at cost just to free up some space. Luckily I have a pick-up, so I could take it off their hands.
I also found a stables with a few tons of rotted horse manure that they were very glad to see the back of. It seems that in the cold late winter the usual folks stop dropping by to collect it, and the pile grows very quickly! Occasionally you get the offer of free horse manure on Ebay; it all depends if someone in your area is offering it. All you need is transport and a shovel.
Depending on the number and area of beds you have to fill, soil is an iffy one. You can get screened top soil at around £60 per cubic metre, but you have no real idea of what it'll be like because there's no standards. I was advised by a good gardener that it didn't really matter about the soil. If you're adding good quality organic material, you should be okay. Do a test before mixing just to see if you need to add lime.
If I didn't have the soil, I calculated that filling the beds would cost around £80 each; in the grand scheme of things that's not a lot. It's the price of deep raised beds, and in my opinion, it's worth every penny!
Many people mention the cost of filling beds, but it's a one-off cost, and if you've a few years left in you, it'll be a very small cost indeed. My beds are 2.4 x 1.2 x 0.6 metres, and they've costed about £10 and a bunch of sweat to fill!
I do have a fair old heap of topsoil. I spent a few days scouring the locality for compost (as it'll be a year or so until mine is ready) and found a store willing to sell me 1500 litres of bagged compost at cost just to free up some space. Luckily I have a pick-up, so I could take it off their hands.
I also found a stables with a few tons of rotted horse manure that they were very glad to see the back of. It seems that in the cold late winter the usual folks stop dropping by to collect it, and the pile grows very quickly! Occasionally you get the offer of free horse manure on Ebay; it all depends if someone in your area is offering it. All you need is transport and a shovel.
Depending on the number and area of beds you have to fill, soil is an iffy one. You can get screened top soil at around £60 per cubic metre, but you have no real idea of what it'll be like because there's no standards. I was advised by a good gardener that it didn't really matter about the soil. If you're adding good quality organic material, you should be okay. Do a test before mixing just to see if you need to add lime.
If I didn't have the soil, I calculated that filling the beds would cost around £80 each; in the grand scheme of things that's not a lot. It's the price of deep raised beds, and in my opinion, it's worth every penny!
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