Soil and composting

With a glass of wine in hand, I begin to write my quest ,query and saga. Of course, with what I did today I can hardly hold the glass or tap the keyboard keys.
Last year we "redid" one side of the garden (the veggie place) as the railroad ties holding the terraces were about to fall apart and/or fall on me and if I was dead, why have a veggie garden? Stacks of moss rock were used to replace the walls of the 4 tiered garden. I soaker system was also installed. I have gardened for years with various successes and failures. Growing tomatoes in my area is very challenging and we figure each tomato is worth $50!
I knew this was the year to finally REALLY improve the soil. Tilling and adding some compost, grape seed compost and a wealth of other substances failed to yield the Martha Stewart soil I was cherishing. I admit I know little about soil structure. I know there is controversy regarding tilling. I do. Last weekend I did my thing on the lower two plots that are only about 3X6, at most. Today I began to work the third plot at 10:00 A.M. As it is time for me to plant snap peas, I began against the moss rock wall where I place old dog enclosure fencing for the plants to climb. With 12" blade on my shovel, I began digging, down deep, turning, hacking, removing rocks and stones and masses of roots. Knowing this would be "THE BIG JOB" I had decided to improve only a 2 foot wide swath along the 16' length, at least enough for the peas. Mostly, I found clay, thick enough to make pots. As the picture may show, If I potted it, I wouldn't even have to color it. Lots of green! With shovel and hands, I tore apart what I could unearthing old toy cars of my son's who is now 30 and a fair amount of worms, which, of course, I lovingly threw in the plot below so as not to chew them up with the tiller. What else would one do with garden gold? Luckily, few grubs were unearthed. That 2' X 16' area took 6 hours! Then the tilling began. Despite 3 trips to the repair shop, my loved Mantis tiller takes at least 50 tries to turn over! That takes its toll. Done in an hour, I added about 5 lbs. of gypsum to help break up the clay. Then I added 3 large bags of compost. Free compost. Well not exactly. The compost is free but I have to hire 2 guys to haul bags from my truck, up 30 stairs to the back yard. So, a huge truck load cost $300! Yep, my veggies are priceless, and with all this work, hopefully I'll produce bushels this year if I don't die trying. By the way, I'm 65 and do this by myself. Although my DH loves the product, gardening is not his thing. I'll post some pictures of my toil and saga. Any further advice is much appreciated.
Linda

still trying to post a pic.

And another pic

And some of what I did.

And just some of the roots I tore through.