Before you start messing with your garden soil, you will want to get a soil test. Adding in nutrients or other things to your soil can make things worse.
What a soil test will do is tell you the nutrient levels in your garden soil. They will also tell you the organic content and pH of your garden soil, which is really important for your future plantings. To get your soil tested you can contact your local Cooperative Extension Service. You can find them by looking at your local county government listings in your phone book, or look for your county's government website. They will provide you with a soil testing kit which will include all the instructions you need.
Once you get your results you can start to interpret the numbers. If it tells you that your organic matter is under 5 percent you will need to add some more compost to it. They will usually list the nutrient levers in parts per million. Or sometimes they will just rate them as high, medium, and low levels. If your reading come in on the low side for any of the nutrients you will just need to add a fertilizer that adds what it is missing.
