Experience helps

When I lived in ME with our rich loam and clay soil, I was able to just till the land, plant, and harvest in the fall. A wonderful garden emerged. However when I moved to the Adirondacks in NY and tried the same thing, we had corn that grew maybe 10" tall and the only produce we got were a very few beans. Then I looked at the soil and found no topsoil to speak of, mostly sand. No wonder the first settlers here starved to death over the winter. So I found a couple gardeners who had successful gardens, read all kinds of books, and fed my garden the nutrients it needed to thrive. Compost and composted horse manure, ten truckloads of it and hence a successful garden. Since I believe in organic gardens I have faithfully composted and every other year supplemented with 2 yr. old manure. Cow manure and chicken manure are hard to get here, so I went against the norm and used the horse manure. Everyone told me it wouldn't work, but it did.
My composting isn't complicated, everything that grows, like vegetable discards, grass clippings, early weeds without seeds, leftover vegetables, and I add all liquid I cook my vegatables in. Things I do not inclued are dog or cat feces, oak leaves, meat or bones (dogs are too interested in them.) I also add a compost starter with a little lime to keep down any odor that might pop up, not that I notice it, but in the neighborhood I live I don't want to take a chance of complaining neighbors.