Hi everyone, I am fairly new to gardening and i keep seeing people on this site ask what organic materials have been added to people's gardens. I am planning on planting a large veggie garden next spring and I am looking for good tips. Is there something I should add to the soil when I plant? In the past I have added old straw and partially composted leaves to my soil but I would love to hear what is the best thing I should be doing. Any suggestions are welcome. (I live in southern california in zone 9b).

What kind of organic matter is fairly readily available to you are low cost? Do you have deciduous trees (trees that loose their leaves every year) around? Are there sources of straw or hay that are inexpensive? What do you do with the food waste you generate every day? What do you do with the yard waste you generate, grass clippings, dead plant material?
All of those things are part of what can be used to add organic matter to your soil and preferably look for materials that are free or very low cost and that do not have an adverse impact on our environment that things such as peat moss do.

Organic gardeners can be a sceptical lot. Some will (if given any choice) always compost materials they beleive are free of persistant pesticides and herbicides.

Others are more pragmatic and will use community compost(s).

In order to promote a safe and pleasant gardening adventure I'm gonna reccomend that any manures you might use be composted first.

My local transfer station is increasing-ly becoming resistant to people dropping off yard waste.

The short of this sermon is "if it was alive, it will rot". With a correlary of "the right place for yard waste and herbivor poo is composted and in your garden".

It may take a little sweat equity, but the food and flowers compost grows can't be beat.