I think that you should get the soil tested to see the acidic levels to make sure that the levels are not to high or low for the plants you want to plant.

Agree that a professional soil test is always the best place to start. It is the only way to really know what you soil needs or is over-loaded with. That said you can never hurt a garden by adding good compost or well composted/aged manures to it. And yes you can purchase compost and composted manures if you don't have enough of your own. Several of the big box stores sell bags of compost/humus/composted manure in the spring for a couple of $ and you can buy it in bulk from local nurseries. Just be sure to ask about the ingredients.

I'd also suggest some extensive reading over on the Soil forum here as this very topic - improving and maintaining soil is the focus of that forum.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Forum

Wow! Aren't you lucky to move into a place with a garden started!
All of the above! Nancy

Congrats on the new garden. My main offering is not to obsess too much over the amendments, preparation, etc. You are highly unlikely to 'screw up' your soil except by adding too much stuff to it.(Except compost, of course). Remember, your forebears used the earth they had and somehow managed to feed themselves. Do what you can, try stuff out and don't get put off by all the talk of what you MUST do. Get some seeds in and get started. Above all don't worry. That defeats one of the main purposes of gardening!

My only other advice would be to keep on top of the weeds. Weeding is a constant process, not a once and for all thing. Hoe off seedlings regularly and pull anything larger BEFORE they get to be a problem. Weed continuously. Every time you go near the garden pull any weeds you see. Sounds like hard work but believe me it is a lot easier than trying to get rid of a weed forest later. After a while the seed bank will be depleted and you will find yourself searching for weeds to pull. All the weeds except perennial roots like bindweed can go onto your new compost heap. Which you will be starting immediately won't you? ;-) And by all means have a look at the compost forum but don't be scared off by the compost pros. They are well meaning but a bit fixated. A pile of garden and kitchen junk will turn into compost whatever you do to it. Enjoy your garden - relax - don't let it become a chore.

Good advice from flora_uk. I'd like to add

* learn to use a hoe
* don't water too much
* don't fertilize too much
* don't walk inside your garden
* don't plant too close

relax and enjoy

The compost pile was already started, and we're definitely adding to it every day. So far it's been weeds, dead leaves and liquid amber balls and a couple dead plants. DH will add grass clippings when he gets the mower to start. I haven't setup the kitchen compost bucket yet, but once I start cooking again (moving=quick meals), it'll happen.

The dirt I did kind of till looked an okay color when I saw it last night, but I think I will add at least a little good compost I'll pick up from the garden center.

And yeah, we're trying to get as many weeds out while the ground is soft and they're not too big. The weeds in the garden aren't too bad. The weeds that are invasive are this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis_pes-caprae and spring onions (allergic to onions, and if I step on them I smell the putrid stench they give off).

Good advice for the soil - the garden is producing so not spent. Part of fertilizing depends on what you want to plant - tomatillos are just about a weed with tomatoes a close second - they don't want too much fertilizer or water (you'll get more leaves and less fruit if you do that), pumpkins and many squash on the other hand - love a big does of fertilizer. I always put an extra bag of composted (i.e .store) manure where I'm planting those. Fruit trees "eat" a lot - quote from U.S.Davis "For example, 14-year old peaches producing 15 tons of fruit per acre have been shown to permanently remove: 68 pounds of nitrogen, 11 pounds of phosphorous, 86 pounds of potassium, 14 pounds of calcium, and 4 pounds of magnesium" that's an acre, but the point is don't skip feeding the trees. Intersting that folks used to think spring but they recommend feeding later. The same site also has a handy one pager for pest management on trees (and they don't go pesticide heavy like some do): http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/calendar.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: U.C. Davis Home Garden Fruit Tree Fertilization

Congratulations!

I'm pretty new at this too (last summer was my crash course with a big garden in a new house), but a few thoughts:

I wonder if the area you cleared was covered to help keep weeds down (and probably add nutrients too) while it wasn't needed? You might want to consider covering up plots you aren't ready to get to yet, so the weeds don't take over while you're not looking. You could just break down your moving boxes as you unpack and use the cardboard to cover the beds you aren't ready for quite yet. You'll need something to keep the cardboard in place -- a couple small rocks, or whatever works for you. You can put this right over the small weeds that are there -- ie., you don't need to weed it all first, they can't do anything without light.

Also, you might want to put your fresh compostables in a new pile if you have space. It sounds like the other one might be close to being done, and it probably will be easier if you keep the new stuff separate.

The hand tool you have sounds like a good choice for your established garden, to just loosen up the soil. I don't like to till and chop up the worms -- I do everything with hand tools except in the hardest, most compacted areas where I need the extra help. Your plots sound nice and soft.

One last thing -- don't work the soil when it's wet, especially if you have clay.

Enjoy!

I have pretty much made a truce with oxalis, and purslane, to continually try to weed them has been a waste of time as the effort to pull thenm pretty much reseeds them.

One dry year my purslane was extremely thick and I finally got down on my hands an knees and started to pull it but noticed that despite the dry weather it shaded the ground and even mid-day underneath the ground was moist.

After I pulled it, the vines that it had surrounded and did not wilt in mid-day heat, started to will in mid-day heat.
I should have left it.

The oxalis is what's in the fallow beds right now. I'll cover them with cardboard or hay until we're ready to plant in a couple months. The oxalis is just starting to flower, so I'm not sure how prolific the seeds will be. Anybody know?

Noted about the fruit trees. We have a arborist friend who could tell us what to use for the trees.

The plot I uncovered did seem to be the spot that was prepped for the next planting, based on what was there vs. what's not in the fallow spots.

No idea about the clay, living in a wine growing region, I know the soil is highly volcanic stuff. It seems even bad gardeners end up with something if they try a little around here.

The spot I did till, now that it's been a few days and it's rained heavily, seems to be holding it's shape well. No flooding, no muddy parts, soil still foamy/squishy when I step on it. Hopefully it doesn't rain a ton over the next few days and I can get a little compost tilled into that area and plant a few things. Can I do the tilling the compost in and planting on the same day? I'm just putting in a few peas, carrots, beets, turnips and greens. Not too many of each yet.

Yeah, I've seen the UC Davis page, the master gardeners here are linked up with them because we're so close.

Sounds like the previous owner was getting ready to plant a new garden this year? You said it looked ready. With a compost heap already in place and the beds already in place, I would guess they were getting ready to plant and things were ready to roll.The soil probably has plenty of OM and is in good shape.
In that case, I wouldn't worry too much about a soil test for this year, but get rolling on your garden for the year! Maybe add a few bags of store bought compost or composted manure and turn it in. Times a wastin! If you don't have good results this year, you can do the soil tests in the fall and have plenty of time to amend/add to your soil through the fall/winter next year. JMHO Nancy

allhaileris - are you in Davis? Asking as an excellent gardener there had found that the water in Davis is heavy in Boron (or something odd like that) and kills many plants - it's an education to learn what grows well there and what simply keels over.