The cardboard is a good start as a base, along with the newspaper. I've found that once I got over being embarrassed, it is easy to ask for free stuff, and people are just as glad that you are taking it as you are to get it.

I have made friends with people with horses who are happy to have my come by and take some manure. A tree trimming company near me has a mountain mulch that they give away for free. My next adventure is the mushroom farm where they give away mushroom compost, which I understand is amazing. Just be creative and keep an eye open for stuff you can use in your layering. Used coffee grounds at Starbucks, produce waste from the supermarket, other people's yard waste, junk mail, etc.

Doing the sheet composting, or lasagna method worked really well for me in my small bed. I didn't give it enough time to settle down - I planted right into my collection of stuff, but I still harvested some veggies this year. Next season will be better, since I have more of an idea what to do.

The compost I bought from the garden center where I am is wonderful, but I wish I had done more research before I bought it. I could have had more plants instead!

Good luck with your gardening.

don't think prev. owners chemicals would be much of a problem, if you are lasagna composting most of the nutrients and stuff your plants will be reaching for will be in the upper strata of your garden which didn't exist when chemicals may have been applied.

I would suggest making raised beds. Where in Chicago is your house? I ask because there can be issues with how the land was previously used. I remember there were stockyards in southwest, and I know there were rail yards all over town. But if that's just a standard neighborhood, you should be fine.

I would highly encourage you to add some sort of compost to the soil to help start the soil food web. And get the soil tested for NPK/pH. If it's low in P or K, you'll want to take steps to fix that. If the pH is too low, you can lime the soil to raise the pH.

Adding fall leaves is probably the best thing you can do for the garden. And Starbucks coffee grounds is a good source of Nitrogen and Potassium (N and K).

Good luck.

The best way to start gardening is to contact your local office of the University of Illinois USDA Cooperative extension Service and inquire about having a good, reliable soil test done for base nutrient and soil pH levels and then dig in to find out what your soil is like now with these simple soil tests,
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
Once you have a good idea of what your soil is now like you will know better what needs to be done to make it into a good, healthy soil that wil grow strong, healthy plants. Preparing your garden soil now will make it that much easier to grow a garden next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: UI CES

THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Great suggestions! We are on the NW side of the city, been an established neighborhood for quite some time. I expect that all those tests will show we do not have healthy soil, unless I am pleasantly surprised. We would like a lot of our gardening to be raised beds purely for ease of gardening, however we won't be planning out the placement until this winter, so maybe the best bet is to take a month or so to do all these tests and see what is needed. Then choose a spot for a lasagna bed so we will have 1 good area this spring, and start amending everything else based on those test results with compost, etc. in the spring.