Yup, the guys are correct... ON ALL COUNTS!
Get the 'Garden Patch' tested, and if it's going to be very big, then get both ends tested.
My county extension agent will do soil samples for $12 each and give you a real extensive report on what the soil contains.
Some of the larger fertilizer places (like for big farms) will do soil samples, but normally you won't get them done for $12!
--------------------------------
Some things you can always add without fear of going too far one way or the other... (Acidic or Alkaline)
COMPOST!
Your grass clipping, immature weeds, fall leaves, any plant matter you can pile up makes BLACK GOLD for your garden!
Don't put in mature weeds that have seeds! This will just seed your garden with weeds!
Don't put in animal protein! No animal parts, bones, grease or 'Poop' from meat eating animals or ruminant animals.
Vegetarian animal waste is GREAT, rabbits, hamsters, ect.
Once the compost starts to rot, add a couple of cans of 'Red Wiggler' worms from a bait shop!
They will help break down the compost faster than anything else!
Turn your compost pile about once a month, and remember to wet it down anytime it's not freezing outside.
This stuff is PURE GOLD for your garden and lawn!
------------------------------
Some thing you would never suspect are GREAT fertilizers!
Egg shells, Hair, Finger & Toe nail clippings, shredded news papers, and for the acid loving plants' end of the garden, coffee grounds work wonders!
(No glossy print, just the dull 'News Print' paper)
Dried & crushed animal bone (bone meal) works very good, but most people don't produce enough bones to mess with that anymore.
---------------------------------------
If you have flowers, corn, ect., Fish Waste is a very good thing to till into the soil!
Chopping up and tilling in dead fish and their waste is just GREAT for acid loving plants.
There are always 'Trash Fish' no matter where you are...
Carp (especally those damned Asian Jumping Carp!),
Shad, Blue Cats, Ect., fish that aren't good for sport or eating, so tell your fishing buddies to bring you back the 'Trash fish' they catch (and you catch some every trip!) and till them into your garden's 'Acidic' side in particular and watch your garden take off!
I'd refrain from tilling fish into places I was going to grow anything underground. Potatoes, Carrots, Radishes, ect. comes to mind...
--------------------------------------
If you use Animal Waste from meat eating animals,
MAKE SURE YOU BURY IT DIRECTLY IN THE GARDEN,
And don't put it in the compost pile!
Meat eaters, and Ruminant animals carry things like E-coli bacteria in the waste, and you don't want to add any to your garden after the plants emerge...
Adding chicken waste or dog waste to gardens after the plants emerge is like wiping your food in Salmonella ladened poop or E-coil ladened poop...
You CAN use them, but till them in in the spring and don't add any after the plants emerge.
--------------------------------
Anyway, you simply CAN NOT go wrong with adding compost and tilling it into your garden, no matter what time of the year it is or what soil conditions you have!
