No problem with starting by mixing compost into the sandy soil. I'd add some blood & bone and possibly lime if the soil is acidic. Might be worth checking the pH once you've added your compost. I'd also recommend growing a winter green manure crop, sown quite densely and fairly soon. Something like hairy vetch, any type of pea, oats, rye, wheat or a mixture of these. Vetch and peas will help add nitrogen while the grasses will just add organic bulk. This could be slashed towards the end of winter/early spring and left on the surface as a ready made mulch or you could dig it in a little.
Hope this helps.

Hi Bandi. Bought-in soil can be dicey unless you actually go and inspect it before you buy. And even then it's no guarantee. Plenty of people - including moi! - have bought soil only to end up with onion weed - and other nasties - galore. As Ray says, dig in plenty of organics like cow manure, mushroom compost and home compost if you have some. It will give body to your sandy soil, give it goodness, and do wonders for moisture retention. A good, well-balanced, home-made fertiliser - blood & bone and potash mixed at a ratio of 10:1 - will help too. If you're planning on jumping straight into beans and spinach - is it not getting too late for beans? - then certainly dig in some lime (or dolomite) to sweeten the soil.

Excellent advice from Ray & Finbar, can you get some stable manure from anywhere? That has lots of bulk from the straw or sawdust plus the manure & the urea in the urine. Basically you can't add too much manure or compost but remember to let it break down before planting.

Be aware that stable manure can bring with it a zillion weeds from the seeds the animal has consumed.

To overcome an issues with seeds we heap the stable manure up when fresh (or delivered) and let it sit for at least 10 days, 14 is better although we often leave it for a month or more. Sometimes we turn it over (ie re-heap it) to ensure that any parts of the heap that didn't "heat-up" do so. This is left to sit for another 10-14 days. It is then ready. We find this process has even killed the seeds in the ground where the heap was sitting. This doesn't guarantee all types of seed will die but will reduce them dramatically.

With sandy soil you need to get some organics working to create a good loam. All the advice you've been given is sound advice, but one think I would add about importing topsoil is that often this soil comes from sources that are not necessarily free of chemical contamination. For example, it might be because a subvision is being developed on previously cropped land that has been sprayed regularly, or from polluted sources such as service stations and industrial sites. So unless you have a guarantee that the soil is pristine, I wouldn't go there. You might be able to get it tested for contaminants but that could be costly and you can spend you money better. A green manure crop as suggested will get you started. There is time to put in something leguminous like beans or peas or lupins. Sow thickly, let them grow to 4th pair of leaves, then dig them in. This will also give you time to deal with any weeds that emerge. Legumes will add nitrogen to your soil as well as bulk volume to change the soil to fertile loam. I'd also think about using a mulch that will break down quickly such as pea straw. It too will give you bulk and help to get worms to work. Blood and bone, dynamic lifter, manures, lime if you need to adjust the ph - all advisable. But I wouldn't buy compost, again, much of the compost that you get these days at tips sites and community sources can contain pollutants. Mushroom compost is generally safe but unless you can get it in big quantities its not worth using a little bag here and there. I'd make a priority of making your own even for later use. You don;t have to have anything exotic - a few dollars on peas straw, a bit of well rotted chicken or cow poo and some soil to stand it on and before you know it the straw will start to rot down and you're on your way to your first compost heap! ( soak some poo in water for a few days and water the straw with it, this will get the bacteria working. The other thing which I do is trench composting - because I juice vegetables and fruits every morning we have lots of vege scraps - I dig a shallow trench in the garden bed and simply put vege waste in the trench. In a month I can do a 3 metres by 1.5 metres vegetable bed. As soon as we have bare soil for a month ahead, this is part of our preparation before planting. I add a handful of blood and bone or lime depending on what I'm gonig to plant there next. Your main task is to give your soil structure so that it will hold nutrients and moisture to support your plants. It might take a couple of years to get it working well, so I'd suggest you create a rotation of beds that you can build up as you go. Good luck - there's nothing nicer than your own veggies!

Cheers
Linda

Well thanks for all the replies everyone, didn't expect so many so soon. We've checked out the compost at the place we were looking to get it from and are pretty satisfied with what we'd be getting - the compost is made from "crushed straw, humus and manure." So it looks like we'll be getting a cubic metre or so next week to get started with. We've discarded the idea of getting top soil in now, seems much better this way for many reasons. Also, we've found out that we can get a trailer of chicken manure for $25, so we're going to get some of that to make our own compost with later on. Think we'll have to put it waayyy down the back of the yard for the meantime though.. I've got access to free horse manure but I've had bad experiences with it in the past, even after it was well-rotted in a pile it still filled my last garden with weeds. The chicken poo looks like the way to go for compost. Slightly unsure about what might be in it tho, as it's from a fairly large chicken farm. Guess we'll just go and see what kind of operation it is first. Well thanks again, and I'm sure I'll be back with further questions as things come up, been re-acquainting myself with the site and reading up the last couple of days. Can't wait to get started now, when it cools down a bit perhaps, although maybe it's just me feeling hot after after my gastronomic adventures at the annual perth chilli fest today..

Another tip, coming from someone who's all too familiar with sandy soil, i.e. me! Buy a bag of bentonite. It's a mineral clay in powder form which has incredible water holding capacity and clay particles are charged so bind nutrients. Addition of clay to sandy soil creates a much more fertile soil in the long term as sandy soils can consume huge amounts of compost which will seem to just vanish right before your eyes. What actually happens is bacterial and fungal activity is extremely rapid because of the open structure allowing oxygen to permiate.

Bentonite is available from agricultural chemical supply companies, and is used in wine making too, incase that helps you track some down. How much you put on depends on your soil, but 3 or 4 big handfuls per metre square ought to do.

And could you possible scrounge a handful of garden worms from a friend..they will be your best diggers and fertilizers..they will love your manure and compost