UPDATE, It's Done!!! was How to Till When . . . ???

[Whitewater]

I need some ideas . . .


The patch of land that I'm going to put veggies on (and where I grew veggies with good results last year) is only about 1/4 reclaimed. That's the part that I physically dug up by hand last year so that I could plant 6 zukes, 4 pepper plants and 2 tomatoes. They didn't take up all that space.

This year I want to expand the garden and use up ALL my space. I have already bought seeds and started the warm weather plants, so I have to make this happen somehow.

The trouble is that whoever owned our house in the past did precisely what I did, and in the same spot! The other 3/4 of my veggie patch is TOTALLY overgrown with weeds and heavy grass and is matted so bad with the growth of year's past (seriously, there's about 6" of hay-like stuff . . . ) that you can't even see the actual ground. We're talking thick, dense weeds. This is clearly because nobody has actually used it in years, probably for decades. I mean, there were *trees* growing in it! (At least, there were until my neighbors cut them down . . . )

I pulled the biggest weeds that I could find (also leftover branches, obviously from some sort of small tree cutting in the past) today and tried to clear out the hay-like stuff, but discovered that there's a weed in there somewhere that has little bitty stickers and they REALLY HURT when you grab them. Ow! That made me stop trying to pull the stuff and rethink this whole project.

We were going to rent a tiller from Home Depot or somewhere, but I looked at what they have and I don't think those tillers will make it through this jungle-ish mess.

So I'm thinking, it's time for a professional. But will they even be willing to try to till through decades worth of weeds?

Can a tiller even get through the weeds? Will I have to get rid of the weeds somehow first? (Which I don't know how to do, or even if that's wise for a patch that's destined to be a veggie patch . . . )

Help! Planting season is almost upon us and I haven't even got my garden cleared yet!

How do I get rid of all these weeds and get everything tilled? 'Cause seriously, there's no spreading compost on this mess . . .


Whitewater

 

[boggybranch]

Do you know anyone that has a tractor? If you can, post a picture of the denses spot.

 

[patandchickens]

You really really ought to get all that aboveground weed growth out of there before tilling, for a variety of reasons.

Wear leather work gloves, and long sleeves if necessary. Loppers can be useful if there are standing-dead thistles or burdocks or large saplings/vines. Use whatever tools you have. I find a large metal bow rake useful (ideally the kind used for spreading gravel; the other kind's ok too but it'd better be well made) -- you sort of whack it into the vegetation and drag out as much as possible, over and over. Then you can clear out the remainder by hand. The more weeds you can pull up by the root, the better.

Once you have the area "reasonably" bare, THEN you can till.

Not only will this enable you to do it yourself, it will also prevent you from tilling in nearly as many weed seeds and perennial weed roots to plague your garden in years to come

Good luck, "have fun" <g>,

Pat

 

[digitS']

For me: A spading fork followed by a 4-prong cultivator works about the best for hand removal of weeds that are deeply-rooted and for grass. I bought a muck rake last year because I thought I had a little more "pull" left in me.

The cultivator is real good for already loosened ground but I can churn up a few weeds just using that muck rake. I think they may be more commonly used to clean stables. However, they are just a more heavy-duty cultivator in the garden.

The spading fork will just about tear up most anything a tractor will. Well, short of a brush blade on a crawler tractor.

Steve
edited to say: I've also got an old grubbing hoe and a polaski but I don't really recommend them and haven't made use of them for a number of years . . .

 

[seedcorn]

How large of an area are we talking about?

I'd get some dried wood, brush, etc, make a burn pile, light it up. Then I'd till it. Rent a rear tine tiller that tines can go both ways. Again, depends on how large of an area we are talking about. A suggestion, if you think you are going to make gardening part of your life, go buy a good tiller, be done w/it. In long run, it will save you money.

Good luck,

 

[vfem]

Burn then plow.... they do it here all the time!!!! That burnt stuff tilled in is good for your garden too.

 

[dickiebird]

I do quite a few gardens around here. My tiller is mounted on a med. sized JD tractor and does over 5' at a whack.
On plots like your's I find it best to remove any vegitation with some sort of sod cutter or blade. Most people can't or won't spend that much. So I'll normally plow the plot, which puts most of the weeds/grass beneath the soil.
After plowing I come back with the tiller and try and til the top 6" into submission.
You might look on Craigslist or somewhere like that to find a person with the equipment you need for this first go round.

THANX RICH

 

[HunkieDorie23]

We just did this with the side of our hill. We have been slowing clearing and cleaning everything up here and the hillside was the last and worst to finish. We went out and started with rakes and hackets, chainsaws, shovels.... you get the picture. About an hour into it I said "F-it" lets just burn it. I took about a minute for my hubby to get on board. It took about 2 hours because we wanted to make sure it didn't get away from us but it was much easier to remove the multifloral and debris after the dead undergrowth is remove. We have one spot to finish clearing but it is soooo much easier. If you live in town check to make sure you don't need a permit.

Have you ever considered a lasagna garden. If you have to rent a tiller and everything anyway you might want to consider it.

http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm

 

[Whitewater]

Well, folks . . .

WE'RE DONE! That's right, Hubby and I (and a friend) busted our humps over multiple days and did all the work by hand -- but we're finished. We've tamed the wilderness and we're finally ready to plant!

We discovered in the course of getting down to business that the total plantable area is 188 square feet, 23.5' x 8'. And virtually all of it, except for about a 6'x4' patch, was wild.

There were even places where the original clay soil was still there, totally virgin. That was a wild experience, because we could roll the clay around in our fingers, shape it, I'll be we could probably have baked it in a kiln and made cups and plates out of it!!! In color it was a rusty orange with black marbling.

Hence why we dumped the bulk of our compost into this patch!

We busted sod, hoed, raked, shoveled, forked, weeded, composted, cultivated, swore, got dirty and sweaty, and tamed 188 square feet of what is now useable garden space. And we did it ALL BY HAND. That's right, folks, not one electric or battery powered tool ever touched our veggie plot. Just the sweat of our brow and the strength in our bodies. And our determination not to let a bunch of weeds get the better of us Now we're tired and sore and sunburned and dirty (not to mention stinky), but I can start planting and seed sowing tomorrow!

We found dandelion tap roots that were 3" around. We found toys and debris from the 1940's right up to the year 2000. We found garden stakes from the 1990's and garden markers pre-plastic (at one point, somebody was growing what was then a new pepper). It was pretty cool, in a way!


But it's done -- and thanks to all the suggestions in this thread, they really helped. We didn't burn it off, but your help made things easier. I dunno what I'd do without this forum!


Whitewater (yes, there will be pictures soon!)

 

[lesa]

Can't wait to see pics! What a project- you got your exercise for the year! You will really be proud of those veggies! Happy Gardening!