looks like you could use another shot of lime

The leaves and compost would be good, but the sand will do nothing unless you are adding around 50 percent by volume. Your level of organic matter is very low and that need to be upwards of 6 to 8 percent and the sand will not add any organic matter. If your soil pH is 5.8 a year after adding lime you may need more, but the organic matter could also influence that.

Being a no-till kind of guy, I would do something different. If you are going to apply compost anyway, do that as a light dusting only. Then cover the area with mulch a couple inches deep and keep it moist until spring. Water it just like it had stuff growing in it. If Mother Nature provides an inch of precip, you don't need to water that week.

By spring that soil will have increased the organic material significantly without you having to do much of anything. It will be soft and easy to plant DIRECTLY without tilling.

Thanks for the tips. It doesn't help that we're around 19 inches below on precip. In August the soil was difficult to penetrate beyond a couple of inches (had a small garden in a different location).

Any recommendations on inexpensive sources for organic material (that can accommodate up to 3000 sq ft)?

1-Look for mushroom farms in your area and see if you can get spent mushroom compost (some people are worried about chemicals that are used in some mushroom farms so you might want to check that out before going for that option.)

2-See if landscape services in your area might be interested in dumping other people's yard waste on your property, especially if it is leaves and grass clippings.

3-I got lots of shredded up palm fronds and chipped up trees free from a tree services that was working in our neighborhood (actually a couple of different times from different companies.)

4-see if your county offers free compost (my county composts the yard waste that it collects and allows residents to take a pickup truck load at a time when it is available.)

5-cruise around looking for bagged leaves and other yard waste that people put out for the trash.

6-Any farms with horses, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, lamas, alpackas, etc that don't use the manure on their own gardens/fields might be happy to let you take it to age/compost over winter so you can spread it in the spring.

7-plant a cover crop in the location that you will be able to cut down in the spring to add organic matter to your soil. A legume crop can improve the nitrogen available to following crops as well. Some root crops as cover crops can help loosen compacted soil. Other cover crops can help against different types of nematodes. The real challenge is deciding what to grow as a cover crop. Perhaps best to try something that will be fairly happy in the current existing conditions there.

Good luck

Look up Elbon rye (cereal rye). They produce enormous amount of root mass that will easily add tons of organic matter in the soil without really doing anything. No tilling or anything. Just plant directly into the soil after you've mowed down rye and let them dry out. Rye will be your mulch. It's probably too late for winter cover crop. Growing legume in rye will even help more because they add nitrogen into the soil. I don't know if clovers can grow in that acidic soil like that.

My soil ranges between 5.6 and 6.2. I have spread New Zealand White Clover (very similar to Dutch white clover that many people use in lawns.) Anyway, the seedlings are commimg up even with my somewhat acidic soil. It would be worth giving it a try especially if you can spread a little compost and keep it moist.

Your soil is probably too dry to germinate any seeds so what you need is some cover that will aid in holding what little soil moisture is in there. How many tree leaves can you accumulate?

It doesn't help that we're around 19 inches below on precip.

It doesn't MATTER that you're around 19 inches below on precip. If you use compost and mulch, and you water, it will be plenty soft in the spring.

The drawback of being below on precip is that in many places there are water restrictions about when/how much/how often/ and even if you can irrigate.

However, Even if you are under severe water restrictions there are things you can do. I would keep the area mulched and if you can't use a hose or sprinkler to water it. Use the dish pan after doing the dishes or a bucket kept in the shower to give that soil a regular drink. Keeping soil moist and mulched for a season can make an incredible difference.

If you have clay soil, I would definitely say don't add sand or you may wind up making adobe. Adding sand to clay apparently only works if you are adding huge amounts. Why spend the money on hauling sand when free organic matter like leaves and grass clippings does far more good.

Adding sand to clay soils in relatively small quantities will not make Adobe bricks, or concrete. To make Adobe bricks you need the Adobe clay in the Southwest United States and Mexico and you need top add long fibers to bind the clay particles, but adding sand to the clay soils in Alabama won't turn that into Adobe, the sand just will not do much unless it is added in very large quantities.

I have found that adding about 35% sand along with some local dark peat moss to some raised beds here in my clay/loam/silt soil has made it so soft that you can dig deeply with your hands easily anytime it is not frozen.

You are pretty acidic there.

No big deal though. That will work itself out over time.

Don't actually worry so much about what the soil test told you. Worry about feeding your soil. Honestly, I have never tested my soil. Not in almost a half century of gardening. I have also never had a total crop failure.

Just follow what dchall and tclynx said and you will be fine. Stay away from the sand. It is kind of a waste of time. Yeah, it can help, but not as much as massive amounts of compost and mulch.

Mass

It is environmentally, as well as economically, unsound to not have your soil tested before adding materials that cost you money. People that consider themselves organic gardeners should have their soils tested periodically to be sure they are not contributing to the pollution of our world.

My tip is to get a soil test that shows the base saturation pecentages. That's the only way to see whether calcium, magnesium, and potash are in balance. And balance is everything -- not quantities. Regards, Peter.