I wouldn't just plant a garden in the soil unless you're willing to spend some time with it, ie: test it for both nutrient content and pH, and add/adjust as necessary.
Depending on how big you're talking here(I recommend starting small... you sound like, well.. a n00b..
)
It would probably be much easier to grow in pots. Either that or raised beds...
Anyway.. Tomatos.. Since you're in Michigan, get early fruiting varieties.
It's kinda a no-brainer, at least to me, for some reason. First, get some general gardening books. Your library should be packed full of them. They will help a lot with some of the basic concepts.
Plant the plants and watch them grow. Fertilizers definately help, but it is an area where
MANY people quite frankly fsck everything up. Fertilizers can drastically change the pH of the soil. The trend is almost always down. If you're going to use fertilizers, invest in a bag of dolomite lime. It's cheap; about 4$ for 50lbs, and it is well worth it.
Mix it into your soil at the recommended rate. Add a little more if the potting soil you're using is peat-based.
Use any fertilizer you want, but only use
1/4 to 1/8 of the recommended dosage, every time, every other time... whatever... that you water. The schedule is really up to you. Use closer to 1/8 for (2x-2x-2x fertilizers and 1/4 for 1x-1x-1x(or less) fertilizers). Whatever you decide to do, stick with it. If you water for a week with fertilizer, and the soil's pH goes from 6.5 to 5.5, your plants will be unhappy. Not necessarily because of the pH change(proper pH depends on the plant being grown), but because of the rapid pH change. That's why it's better to do it gradually, ie: plain water, fertilizer water, plain, fert, etc).
The idea is to get the plants growing really well. You need to pay
very close attention to them. They will tell you what they need and what is wrong, but you have to know what to look for. Most of this kind of information will be available in books and online.
If you come to a point where you notice fast, vigorous growth.. stop there. It's
so easy to overdo it, it just isn't worth it. Resist the temptation to "add a little more", because "it's making them grow", right? Right and wrong.. lol.
It doesen't hurt to flush the plants well(double the container volume) with plain water once every few weeks to remove any excess salt buildup.
Organic fertilizers are excellent. You generally can't do wrong with them, although I still recommend reduced strength applications.
Or you can go organic and make your own worm casting tea fertilizer....
it's all pretty fun stuff. good luck.. lol
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