Planting My First Garden

[OHRD]

I've enjoyed reading some of the garden threads on here and it's been really helpful. We planted zucchini, carrots, squash, peas, lima beans, onions, and cantaloupe this year. We started with the little pods of potting soil - like 50 to a container.

This weekend we plan to do a raised bed in the yard and transplant some of this stuff.

Need some advice for the bed. What's the best thing to fill it with? I have some loose dirt in the yard - should I mix that w/ some potting soil? If I have to fill that whole bed with potting soil, it's going to get way more expensive than I care for.

And how far do I need to raise it off the ground? Do I need a "floor" on it other than the grass? Should I break up the grass to let the roots go into the ground?