John Innes No 3 is probably your best bet, or other peat free compost would also be suitable. You could also use compost from grow bags as they usually contain the right amounts of added feed needed.

If you want to make your own homemade mixture then use two parts soil to one part well rotted organic matter and add some fertiliser.

If you wish to take the organic route and avoid fertilisers, then use well rotted manure instead of fertiliser and put the manure in the lower half of the containers.

I'm sorry that I can't be of assistance regarding what to grow where you live as I live in the UK. Maybe if you visit the USDA site this will give you good information about what veggies would be better suited for your climate.

Hope this helps?

Thank you for your response. I was so new to this site that I didn't think to check for replies before committing. We wound up taking a beautiful drive in the country to a farm where the owner had organic compost from the rescue horses he takes care of. Due to our drought, he cannot grow crops so he "grows" rich, beautiful soil.
We brought home a truck load for $10 and within 2 weeks our starter veggies had more than doubled in size.

You can't beat a bit of dung to get those veggies growing big. As you got it for nearly nothing that's got to be a plus... And it's organic.