I hope you do start a garden next year - it's so rewarding! It's probably fine to start with the soil you already have, and just add to it. First, remove the vegetation from the area you want your bed to be (get rid of the grass and its roots). Then loosen the soil with a shovel or garden fork at least 10"-12" down. Break it up well enough so that you can add things in. Here's a list of things you can add:

~ Things that have already composted (kitchen scraps, etc.)
~ Grass clippings and chopped leaves, if you're starting in the fall. (These won't have time to break down before planting time if you're starting in the spring).
~ Lots of manure!! (Cow and rabbit manure are good - alpaca and lama manure is best. Horse and chicken manure should be REALLY old before use. Dog or any other manure from meat-eaters is a no-no.)
~ Worm castings - these are GREAT if you can get them.

Heap your soil up at least 10"-12" above ground level - higher is fine, too. You can leave the bed as-is, for a no-cost bed that you'll have to "re-heap" every so often, or edge it with something to make it long lasting. You can use whatever is available to you: non-pressure-treated wood, rocks, bricks,...around here we can get cement block cheap, so we used those for most of our beds. Just dig a narrow trench to give them a firm place to sit, and stack them around the bed! Wood takes a little more time to put together, if you're screwing or nailing it together.

Dear, dear. Now I'm blushing - I'm afraid I've nearly written another post with all my talking during the comment section. Hope you ladies don't mind. I do love garden talk!

Thanks for some great tips, Amber.

I live in northern Florida, which has a unique growing season, so I've been scouring the internet and local sources for information on our area's growing patterns. I'm glad your first step was "start small", Amber. I needed that realistic reminder :-)

We've never added a single bucket of soil to our garden - only compost-type ingredients, such as manure (LOTS of that!), leaves, grass clippings, composted kitchen scraps, etc. Yvonda mentioned some GREAT ways to use those kind of things in her comment.

We have friends who had a truckload of beautiful black soil brought in to make their garden. That's a lot faster than building up the clay slowly, year by year. ...But I can't describe the satisfaction in knowing we "built" our own soil. We know what's in it. :) It's worth trying, if you have the time, and it's possible. It really CAN be done! If you have access to Lama or Alpaca manure, get as much of that in your soil as you can. It's the best manure out there.

As far as resources go, I'm afraid I can't think of any books that deal specifically with cover crops, though my Dad may know of some. I know that the gardening book with the most worn cover at our house is "High-Yield Gardening: How to Get More from Your Garden Space and More from Your Gardening Season"
By Marjorie B. Hunt, Brenda Bortz. If I remember correctly, there is some info on cover crops in there as well - you might want to check that one out. "Joy of Gardening" by Dick Raymond is one of my personal favorites because it's so readable, with lots of photos. That one has lots of info on cover crops, too.

You're right about cover crops being used in soil that you aren't using - that's one great way to build up soil. But they can also be used to keep weeds down in the way I described. We use clover, buckwheat, annual rye, peas, and beans as cover crops by themselves to build up the soil, but when we want something to go "under" another crop, clover is our first choice because it doesn't get very high (it would probably fit under your tomato plants.) Something like zucchini or squash will do a nice job of covering the soil on its own, but things like tomatoes or anything on a trellis can benefit from the ground below them being covered. Another way to use clover is between rows of beets, carrots, etc. if you plant in rows instead of beds, or in rows within the beds. If you don't grow any crops that can "fit" a cover crop under them, don't stress! Just use other means to build up your soil when your crop isn't in there. :)

And hang in there with your children - I didn't "fall in love" with gardening until I was in my teens. :):):)

I am still confused when it comes to cover crops. I am not sure what I am confused about though. I don't think I could plant it under things like tomatoes- mine only get about 2-3 feet high, max, and there appears to be no space underneath really. I can't think of anything that grows high enough around here to grow another thing under it! I thought cover crops were supposed to go on soil that you aren't using for the year. Can someone direct me to some "cover crops for dummies" type of link or book? LOL Basically I need some simple info on how to feed my soil. Everything I have tried to find online or at the library seems so complicated. Any ideas where to find simple info?

About choosing plants- I agree its really important. SOOO hard to do when looking at seed catalogues. I am learning more and more that its crucial to put the majority of the garden effort into growing things suited to your climate. I was convinced before, but now I am even more convinced. Growing things that can be eaten fresh AND frozen or stored (ie. not tons of lettuce, LOL) are better since then they don't all have to be eaten fresh.

Family involvement- this is a hard one for me, since my kids are 7 months and 3. The 3 year old is just starting to get into doing simple things. My husband, even though he is wonderful and helpful- is more than happy to do any digging, but then he says its all mine- he really doesn't like gardening at all! I try to understand that.
Schedule time- this is what I have learned this year. I HAVE TO put "garden time" into my daily routine (aka "schedule"). Its SO true!!!

Thank you again for writing this post! It really is great to see how someone else built up a garden from clay. Did you have to add soil to it, like I did? If we didn't we wouldn't have a garden at all- we could sculpt our "soil" aka grey clay.