What has worked for me is cutting Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus Virginiana and Osage Orange and having the mill cut the Cedar 1 inch and Osage 1/2 inch.
The oldest of the beds are 5 year old and holding up well.
I make them 4'wx8' to 12'L x 30"D filled from bottom with 8"leaves and chipped tree pruning,10"60%partialy finished compost+20%cow manure+20%top soil then 12" 50 50 top soil and well finished compost.
I break with conventional wisdom by Standing a 8" preforated cylinder centered in bed every aprox 3 feet. These cylinders are jerry rigged using what I have lying around,example is thin 8" pvc pipe with several 1&1/2" and 2" holes drilled with hole saw. I extend life of pvc top that is exposed uv sunlight by using special pvc primer then top coating with house paint. These cylinders are kept filled with vegetables and weeds pulled from beds,vegetable tops & roots removed while hearvesting,cow manure,kitchen scrapes and other compostabe material. The majority of water gos in these cylinders. I do this to alow airation of the beds. I have a small worm raising set up to give me a supply of casting for pot plants,seed starting and selling a little surplus to keep me in beverage money. I strive to have worms working in the beds yearround. This arrangement replenishes volume lost as the bedding rots.
The soil level drops as plants get taller and season becomes warmer nessitating mulching with wood chips from pruned trees.
I now construct the beds so the lower 6 to 8 inches of one wall can be removed to alow transfering some of lower soil to top once every 2 years more or less as I have time and inclination. It was much easier done when I owned my little trenching hoe but it's a good work out with a shovel now. I grow cereal grains during off seasons not to eat but for benifit to soil and keep bed warmer for the worms. I prefer flipping the soil when time comes to turn the grain under but often till it instead.
Which finaly brings us to my answer about changing soil periodicly. No I don't. I believe the soil would go down hill and might benifit from changing if I did nothing more than top dress. It sounds like more work than it is because the preperations are spread over time rather than thrashing mode 2 times per year.
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Today's Featured Article - The Nuts and Bolts of Fasteners - Part 2 - by Curtis Von Fange. In our previous article we discussed capscrews, bolts, and nuts along with their relative hardness and thread sizes. In this segment we will finish up on our fasteners and then work with ways to keep them from loosening up in the field. Capscrews, bolts and nuts are not the only means of holding two parts together. When dealing with thinner metals like sheet tin, a long bolt and
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