Preparing the Soil in Spring

I had a request about getting the actual garden soil ready for the spring planting. The best thing to do is put down as much organic material as possible in the fall and till that in. Organic material being manure, dead leaves, grass clippings, straw ect. If you are just starting out and need to do something for the soil in the spring then I would recommend putting down a nice (2-3 inches) covering of manure at this point cow would be best since it isn't as high in nitrogen. You could also buy compost and spread that liberally as well. Compost is incredibly safe so you could do as much as you could afford really. We have a green waste recycling place near us that works great and is fairly inexpensive. Some other nice things are peat moss or a product called coir, which is essentially coconut husk. However depending on the size of the garden it could be expensive. It also wouldn't hurt to put done a chemical fertilizer along with some iron. I use a 16-16-16 fertilizer with some nitrogen mixed with 46-0-0. These numbers are on all fertilizer bags. Be careful not to use too much nitrogen, however it is essential in breaking down organic matter into a usable substance for plants. The bag will tell you how much per square foot. I have also been adding coffee grounds which are also a good source of nitrogen and other nutrients.

The organic material will help in breaking up and losing the soil while the fertilizer will help in breaking up the organic material. If your ground is really hard straw and/or sawdust does a nice job of loosening up the soil as well as vermiculite however it is pretty pricey.

Quick Notes:

Things to add before tilling:
Cow Manure
Compost
Peat Moss
Straw
Vermiculite
Coir
Chemical Fertilizer 16-16-16 with Nitrogen 46-0-0. I would say 2 to 1.
Iron (Granulated)