I'm sure @frydogbrews will chime in. Especially in regards to the leaves, I think he is opposed, but he can answer.

I always recommend a soil test before applying any fertilizer and I would recommend any application wait until spring, otherwise you will surely lose some by erosion, weed usage, etc.

I don't do anything to my garden but cut it down. I compost the stuff I pull or cut out and leave it alone. I do all my prep in the spring. If you leave your residue in the garden by simply hacking down, then I might recommend tilling in to help it break down.

If you have a garden that may erode away during the winter, I recommend a cover crop of wheat. You can simply till it in come spring. Wheat is cheap too. About $10-12/50 lb bag. You can also just cover with straw, that's even cheaper and you can also till in spring.

Back to fertilizer,if you are using an organic form of fertilizer, which I do, I apply in the spring. I basically just apply organic matter and till in. I also have applied a few organic supplements that cover a broad range of plants, but basically I'm adding nitrogen in a slow release form.

yeah, what benvarine said, mostly.

my beds that are not in use still (full of carrots and beets) i will put organic matter like horse manure on and till in, but that is way before now, like back in mid october, so some stuff starts growing right away and holding soil in. generally tilling this time of year just ends up having lots of soil blow away during winter winds and when you live in an area where "dirt" is scarce, you can't allow any to blow away.

I mowed mine down after everything was done and tilled it up once. If I get around to it I'm going to put a couple bucket loads (skidsteer bucket) of manure on it. Just enough to avoid wind erosion and add a bit of nitrogen. I've always liked the cover crop idea, but I never get around to it.

Well, we don't get much wind here so I don;t think there is much wind erosion to worry about. I still have a lot of leaves to clean up so maybe I will use those to cover up the garden.

Lakewood said:

I use leaves to add organics into my clay. Works really well.

best thing in the world to break down clay is pine needles. it takes a long time, but it totally converts it.

My soil out here is crazy, this was all farmland, hit or miss on the dirt quality after the houses were built, I got lucky, I can drop a seed in the dirt and pow! It grows like mad...

I turn the old dead clippings from the prior crops into the soil, sort of a rotating constant mulching.

There is no down time out here so I have to keep the garden rolling, right now Swiss chard and beets are rocking, the pepper plants are done, pulled and tossed in the bin for later mulching into the dirt, different than many other folks on here for their garden I know but it works for me!