Tilling up ground for new garden

[lnsoaps]

a first shot of tilling and raking out the roots will help, but after that i'd use a stirrup hoe. use it once a week. you won't have a weed problem if you leave enough room between plants that you can get the hoe between them so you don't have to bend over as much. yes, for weeds close to plants you still have to do some fine close up weeding and bending over, but what i do is i have a ground pillow that i kneel on (some people can't do that with bad knees) or sit on. i also use a large knife or a small trowel (an actual brick layers small trowel because it has a fine point and a sharp edge so i can scrape weeds as much as uproot them, which i don't want to do too much close to garden veggie plants).

we have a lot of gardens here. the stirrup hoe gets them done.

i do about 10,000sq ft in a good year. in a bad year (injuries) i'm half that. i don't till any more, but i do dig and bury weeds and garden debris as needed - in most gardens that means 5-10% of the area gets disturbed other than me scraping the surface with the stirrup hoe. in extreme cases i will turn more. i have a few gardens that i'll be needing to do that with this year. i don't mind the work as when i'm burying weeds i know that is worm food and then eventually that becomes garden plant and veggie food.

Interesting!! I have a lot to do.

 

[ducks4you]

The best thing to do will cost you $, and most of us here shudder to recommend it. I think you should till AFTER you pull out every weed by the roots. If it doesn't come out, get out your shovel and dig, dig, dig until the whole root is gone. It will be a lot of sweat equity, but better than poison and dealing with weed comeback around the tender vegetables that will be injured as you try to pull the same weed out, aGAIN.
If you have a compost heap do NOT throw the weed into it, bc humidity will keep it alive!
Since your live in NC, I suggest that you message, @majorcatfish , who also lives in NC and understands your soil better than me.
Good luck this season!!!

 

[seedcorn]

I’d suggest (not my wife) to find a dairyman and ask or pay a very small amount, fill a pick up with manure mix (usually somewhere they bed cows or calves with straw.). Coat your garden area, all will be good. Cow manure is fine. Don’t use swine or poultry manure this late in year as they are too hot with free nitrogen. Unless you like tall, green plants with less fruit....

 

[ducks4you]

You will want to start a compost pile. Your OWN kitchen scraps won't create much.
I am going to repeat myself, but I don't think that @Insoaps has heard this.
IF there is a local stable, CALL them first to see if you could have SOILED horse bedding. Almost EVERY horse owner buys sweet feed, etc. in 50 pound plastic bags. These bags end up in their trash cans, so they are free. Bring a roll of duct tape. You can shovel and fill each bag about 2/3 full (bc they will get heavy), then roll down and duct tape them closed, so you can transport in your trunk and not stink up your car.
Also, most horse feed is now pelleted, so there are few seeds from hay or straw. Even if they do sprout in your garden bed they will pull out very easily, can be thrown on the compost pile to decompose for later.

 

[majorcatfish]

Sonya when you have a chance post a few photos of what your dealing with... always glad to help a north Carolinian

till then.... be safe

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Hello, I'm in a quandary as to what I want to do. So we were doing raised beds 2 years ago. I did the Mels mix recipe with all the goodies in there. Then Hurricane Florence wreaked havoc on everything we had; home, my soap business, greenhouse and gardens! We are still in an RV a year and a half later in fact. We are still cleaning up hurricane debris on the property. So where we had the raised beds all the beds are gone, but the soil is still there. I'm thinking about just tilling it in and weeding it. Because if I take that soil out for a raised bed then I will have holes in the ground. Massive holes. So I'm thinking about going back to the traditional garden rows but done in the square foot gardening arrangement. What would you do? Suggestions? Tips?

Build your bed as long as you want it or create several raised beds for different crops. The depth of the bed can vary, but there should be a minimum of 6 inches of soil. Many garden plants require at least 6 to 12 inches for roots, so 12 inches is optimal.

 

[flowerbug]

The best thing to do will cost you $, and most of us here shudder to recommend it. I think you should till AFTER you pull out every weed by the roots. If it doesn't come out, get out your shovel and dig, dig, dig until the whole root is gone. It will be a lot of sweat equity, but better than poison and dealing with weed comeback around the tender vegetables that will be injured as you try to pull the same weed out, aGAIN.
If you have a compost heap do NOT throw the weed into it, bc humidity will keep it alive!
Since your live in NC, I suggest that you message, @majorcatfish , who also lives in NC and understands your soil better than me.
Good luck this season!!!

i have yet to find any weed that survives being uprooted and left in the sun to bake on top of our last resort weed pile (where i put things like sow thistle and other plants that have a lot of seeds on them that i don't want to spread to other places). after a few weeks of that there's nothing left but a string of dried root and whatever bits of dirt are left. normally i bury everything i can but a few certain weeds i know i have to either bury them extra deep and put newspaper or cardboard over them before i fill it back in or i put them on the last resort weed pile.

 

[flowerbug]

Interesting!! I have a lot to do.

start smaller and see what you can keep up with. especially where it gets so hot that it is harder to get out in the middle of the day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

normally i bury everything i can but a few certain weeds i know i have to either bury them extra deep and put newspaper or cardboard over them before i fill it back in or i put them on the last resort weed pile.

I store them in my burn barrel until time to burn. Roots that can start up again and any flowers that may continue to go to seed as it dries. Some examples; Canada Thistle and Nutsedge, straight to the burn barrel.

 

[lnsoaps]

You will want to start a compost pile. Your OWN kitchen scraps won't create much.
I am going to repeat myself, but I don't think that @Insoaps has heard this.
IF there is a local stable, CALL them first to see if you could have SOILED horse bedding. Almost EVERY horse owner buys sweet feed, etc. in 50 pound plastic bags. These bags end up in their trash cans, so they are free. Bring a roll of duct tape. You can shovel and fill each bag about 2/3 full (bc they will get heavy), then roll down and duct tape them closed, so you can transport in your trunk and not stink up your car.
Also, most horse feed is now pelleted, so there are few seeds from hay or straw. Even if they do sprout in your garden bed they will pull out very easily, can be thrown on the compost pile to decompose for later.

Thank you. I do have a friend not too far away that has horses. I've gotten small loads for composting and spreading around shrubs. Thanks for the suggestion. We have a trailer I can haul it.