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20 X 20 is not terribly huge. Is the ground soft? If it is, use a garden fork and get after it.
It's going to take a while, but it can be done. How old are you? When I was younger I used to have a huge plot.
I am sure the ground is pretty hard since it's been untouched for a few years by the looks of it. I am 42, which might sound young to some people but i'm not in shape and have sore hands/fingers/wrists from my job. I decided to buy a battery powered tiller earlier tonight, it's pretty narrow and light so I will have a much easier time with that than I would doing it by hand which would take longer and not be so easy on my body. It was only $90, and my friend who went with me to buy it who is a pretty experienced gardener told me it would be a good buy since i'll need it to re-till my garden every year anyway. I wasn't thinking it needed to be done every year, but everything i'm planting are annuals so i'll get my use out of this thing!
It's supposed to be severe weather tomorrow (Monday) so I probably won't get a chance to get down there again until Friday, but at least I have a plan.
Not cool at all. Do you get the same plot year after year? If so, break it up into small batches of work. (If not, walk away--that's ridiculous.)
We do get the same plot every year, thank God, because I wouldn't be so upset about the condition of it if I was responsible, at least. So I only have to do this once.
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If plot has ever been gardened, you can easily irrigate & pull those weeds out with gloved hands. It may not be, as bad as, it looks.
Yeah I bought some garden gloves and the next day I don't have to work i'm going there to pull the weeds then till it with the new tiller I bought tonight (see my last post for more information, if you are curious, )
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Then each day go back to where you are blocking grass growth & pull out weeds and grass to clear a new spot...plant. Move to next section next time. I'd plant some annual herbs & salad greens & simple care-- fast enjoyment radishes, carrots, peas to start & some edible & nonedible flowers.
I want to keep my herbs in my kitchen or patio, and veggies in my garden. I have a pretty big list which include salad greens, carrots and peas.
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You will have to block future weed regrowth between rows with newspaper or landscape fabric. I have used rolled roofing (dented on sale cheap from building supply) for none muddy pathways.
Good luck.
Yeah, I think I will do the landscape fabric & straw between my rows, I want to have it look nice and give me a place to walk without having to worry about dirty shoes,
Nah, it's good training. Everybody has to start somewhere.
Lesson #1: Gardening is hard work. No piece of land is garden-ready until you make it so.
Our OP will make a go of it and learn valuable gardening skills in the process. No amount of advice replaces first hand experience.
I hope GaiaGoddess keeps us updated as the project moves along. I look forward to hearing more.
I agree! I am eager to learn from my mistakes. I even thought of starting a blog about it, from the perspective of a beginner. I know there are thousands of blogs on gardening but I'm the kind of person that loves to share my experiences so I think it will make it more fun!
^^^
As a pretty rank beginner with lots of enthusiasm and no money, I learned the hard way too. We bought an old crappy house on 5 acres of neglect and weeds in Texas. I had visions of English gardens dancing in my head.
The first time I went out with a shovel, both it and I, got stuck in the deep clay mud. I though I was going to have to call for rescue.
Then thinking to resolve most of the weed problem the *easy way* I bought some sheep. Within a year I was unintentionally in the sheep business. Not to mention spending every weekend stringing fence to keep in the sheep who were supposed to be happily browsing all the weeds and brush, but instead spent most of their time trying to escape my well-intended little farmette.
Good times. Plenty of falce palm memories.
I wouldn't change a thing.
I am sure the ground is pretty hard since it's been untouched for a few years by the looks of it. I am 42, which might sound young to some people but i'm not in shape and have sore hands/fingers/wrists from my job. I decided to buy a battery powered tiller earlier tonight, it's pretty narrow and light so I will have a much easier time with that than I would doing it by hand which would take longer and not be so easy on my body. It was only $90, and my friend who went with me to buy it who is a pretty experienced gardener told me it would be a good buy since i'll need it to re-till my garden every year anyway. I wasn't thinking it needed to be done every year, but everything i'm planting are annuals so i'll get my use out of this thing!
It's supposed to be severe weather tomorrow (Monday) so I probably won't get a chance to get down there again until Friday, but at least I have a plan.
Thanks for all the videos and advice everyone!!
Just because it hasn't been touched, doesn't mean the ground is hard. You should have tried it first.
I have a gas tiller but only used it a couple times. It wasn't huge and it really didn't make a difference. The times didn't go in deep enough, so I doubt your battery powered one will be of any use.
What I did do, was get a trailer of compost and slowly worked that in. Over the years, covering it with cypress mulch kept the weeds out. I hate weeding.
I did all that in my 40s. I'm in my 50s now and the old garden plot was infested with ants. Didn't want to use poison, so I moved it. Now I have the raised beds. So much cleaner. No walking in dirt to work or harvest the garden. By raised, it's only 4 inches tall and surrounded by grass. The grass has not grown into the beds, so no weeding. I'm already eating tomatoes. This is south texas, so we get an early start.
And you really can't just take your tiller into the tall weeds and think this will take care of it. The weeds will get all tangled up in the tines. I know from experience.
Tiller is good for working the soil, not the weeds. And you will be spreading the weed seeds back into the ground.
Then thinking to resolve most of the weed problem the *easy way* I bought some sheep. Within a year I was unintentionally in the sheep business. Not to mention spending every weekend stringing fence to keep in the sheep who were supposed to be happily browsing all the weeds and brush, but instead spent most of their time trying to escape my well-intended little farmette.
...
This made me chuckle.
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