I just made our first raised bed and got it filled with black dirt. 12'x4'. We have kind of given up on a garden here because the soil is so poor. We buy most of our tomatoes from the Amish as well. We can about 25 qts a year for chili & goulash & stuff.
Earth worms are another great addition to your raised beds. Their casings add much needed nitrogen to the soil as well.
Save all your used coffee grounds to add to your soil when you amend it and the grounds will attract other worm up from the soil underneath your beds.[/QUOTE]
We do not have poor soil here. I do not have to get manure, sort of home grown!

Wish I could get them to apply in the right areas ! They want to do it on their schedule?
Earthworms we have plenty of ! When it rains enough the robins enjoy a feast on the surface! Otherwise they hop, stop, and listen! Of course with earthworms , that means grubs, and between the two, the moles are healthy!

We also have a healthy crop of rabbits, so the owls are fat! A few squirrels for variety. As we have a lot of mature spruce trees growing together, cuts down on mowing, but you could hide emus, and elephants. But we have enough eagles around so maybe the emus stay away?