Raised bed soil recipe?

[ajpaterson]

This is my project on the go. I'm building some raised beds to go on top of paved area of garden that is unused. Anyone got any advice for a recipe to fill the raised beds with? I've got access to...

1. horse manure (well rotted, plentiful and free!)
2. compost (free, recycled-green-bin-waste compost from council or £25/skip delivered)
3. topsoil (weedy from freecycle and can no doubt get some more)
4. ash (from our wood-only fires over winter)

Is manure and compost fine, or do I need topsoil too?
Should I throw the ash in as well, or save that for my tomatoes later?

Many thanks.

[veg4681]

I think you've got yourself a good mixture there already, throw in some ash. However for root (parsnip, carrot, beetroot) and onion vegetables, the soil shouldn't be too rich with manure but Brassica (cauli, cabbage, broc, sprouts) vegetables need them.

[terrier]

Your mixture could be a little on the acidic side and the ash would help to neutralise it. Also with a lot of equipoo, it could end up being quite claggy when wet so you may need some solids in there for drainage. My horses have been happily providing the growing medium for my garden for the past 12 years and so there must be a lot more horse muck than soil but everything seems to grow fine. I also use alot of wood ash and the ground is very stoney.

[gingerneil]

add in a bit of sharp sand to help drainage ?