Starting a Garden- what first?

[Dreadlocked]

Hi,
I want to start a garden in my backyard, but i don't want to do tooo much trial and error if i can help it, so any advice would be appreciated!
The yard has never been used for veggies before as far as i can tell, and right now its just dirt. (not even any grass.)
Do i need to start by putting down some soil or mulch? I'm a bit concerned that the soil that  is there may not be very good.
Or should i just start planting and see how it goes?

[waterfeature]

I think your first stop would be to check your soil. Cultivate your garden soil, make it suitable for your garden. Otherwise, all
else fails for your garden if you do not have the right soil type.

[David Corkill]

I agree, get the soil in good shape. Mix in plenty of compost.