It sounds to me like you are right on with your plan. I would only add that I would dig down a foot if possible in the native soil. Your plants will greatly appreciate the deeper root run. I have been growing in raised beds for several years and love them. Their one disadvantage is that they must have some of the soil replenished each year. I do this with homemade compost, green cover crops in the winter, and horse manure too. It's kind of a matter of getting a routine going. Be sure to get a soil test at least by next spring. It takes the guess work out of it.
Have you grown garlic before? My two attempts at it were less than successful here, which was probably my inexperience, but the one thing I didn't realize was how long it takes for the garlic to reach harvest stage in the spring. We plant it in late fall in the south, it grows all winter, and spring, and then is ready to harvest in June. That's two months of my summer growing season that the bed is tied up with garlic. If I only had one bed, I would definitely not grow garlic in it. That's just me, though.

My compost pile isn't ready yet, otherwise I would add in some compost this year. I'm building a couple cages this fall to redistribute what I have down to the new garden area more, so I should have compost next year to help fill the next beds and dress this one.
Yep, it's my first raised bed. Over the next couple years I want to end up with 8 beds so I can do rotating. I figure if I add at least one garlic bed each year that will help prompt me to get my beds done, lol. I do have another area of the yard that is currently my containers and a small plot, and I'm starting the switchover to beds. I'll still be using this area till I have a few beds set up. So I'm not really giving up garden space to garlic. And I think the garlic will only fill half the bed, so in the spring if I have room I will put in something else in the other half of the bed.
And yep, my first year growing garlic too, here at least. I did successfully grow garlic for a couple years about 10 years ago in another garden. We can easily eat 20 pounds a year between the two of us, and my sister keeps bugging me to grow some garlic for her too.
I hadn't thought about digging deeper down than 6 inches to prep the bed, but it's a good idea. Thanks :)

It's doable, Good Luck!

Was my first real year playing with garlic.

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Closest bed is Music and CA White in a 6" bed ( 4x8), Top left bed is a bulbil experiment and top right bed is 1 lb of Chesnock Red in a 12" bed that became 10 lbs.

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I used 6" spacing. It's your spot ... try it and hopefully enjoy it ... any attempt always offers up a lesson learned ;)

The soil will soften with time with out digging .
if you have it a little wood ash is good for the garlic.

Those are lovely pics cozy! I hope at the end of next summer my bed looks just as good. I have russian giant, leningrad, and up north, a bulb of each.

And I do have woodash I can add, as well as powdered eggshells, coffee grounds, and fish tank water if needed.

Egg Shell(sea shell): will take for ever to break down:

Wood Ash: Perfect for root system.

Coffee Ground: Good soil conditioner.

NOTE: Garlic and onions are BASICALLY leafy vegetables. They need Nitrogen more than any thing else. Potash is good too, but there is no need for Phosphorus . "P" is for flowering, blooming and fruits.
HOW DEEP:
Although it is good to condition the soil for a good depth, BUT garlic does not need more than 8- 10" of good soil. But In case you want also plant other veggies in there (Carrots, beets, turnips, ...) You will need more depth.

This post was edited by seysonn on Fri, Sep 20, 13 at 4:12

I tried planting garlic for the first time last fall. I also was using a raised bed.

Apparently for zone 4 that is a bad idea.

I just wasnt thinking it through. My beds are deep beds - aprox 24", and I planted the cloves in the outer perimeters. Every single one of them turned to mush. There simply wasnt enough insulation to protect them from our cold WI winters.