[Preparing a garden bed in SoCal]
The Earl Raised Bed Method:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=4709
A faster way to do this is to build the sides
for the finished beds like in his photo, maybe
a foot taller, and just have compost, manure,
topsoil, etc hauled in. With manure, one should
test it for aminopyralid contamination first.
If you use the search button at the top of each
page here to search for "aminopyralid", you
will find some explanations and horror stories.
(Aminopyralid is the active ingredient in some
broadleaf herbicides marketed by Dow Agro to
hay farmers. Horses and other livestock fail to
digest it, and it takes years to break down in the soil.)
A thread on raised beds and soil amendments
for a Southern California grower:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=4648
[potting up]
Some people use compost, some use soilless container
mix, some people use "the cheapest thing at the
store", some use well-tested professional nursery
mixes, etc. If there are any indoor growing and
hydroponic stores in easy driving range, they often
have "the good stuff" (for somewhat higher prices
than big box hardware stores, of course).
This page lists some respected brands of container
mix for starting seedlings and potting up before
transplanting (not that you will want to pay
shipping, of course, just what to look for):
http://homeharvest.com/pottingmixes.htm