Bren, if you're going to go organic, there's no better time than the present. This is leaf-collecting season for us (Feb-Apr). The leaves neighbors rake, bag and put by the curbside, are gratefully collected by us and placed in our beds. Try to find a tree company you can get bulk chipped oak mulch from. There's nothing better than those two things to build your soil. It's very difficult to go organic and have a nice St. Augustine lawn (heaven knows we've tried and not been successful), but it's just a little back-breaking work to do the beds. The more leaves and chipped mulch you add, the less fertilizer you need. We alternate alfalfa pellets with soybean meal (from a feed store) for everything. Yes, it's stinky for about 5 days if it doesn't get covered, but is low in nitrogen and filled with other nutrients. Things grow slowly, but well, and is therefore less attractive to pests. Earthworms and other beneficials love this combo and will start working for you. This is all especially effective if you start with recycling cardboard and newspapers as a base to your beds.
