Since it is raining today, I decided to do a little research on soil preparation. OMG! Who knew it would be so laborious. I thought that you just put the seeds in the ground and watched them grow. (I know, a collective "Duh!" is in order.) Before I can even prepare the soil, I have to get rid of the grass. I found out that there are three basic options for doing this.
First, I can spray the entire area with an herbicide, e.g. RoundUp, effectively killing all the grass, but also polluting my garden with the very chemicals that I would like to avoid in my food. Option one is out.
My second option is solarization. This involves covering the garden area with plastic and letting it sit for 4 to 6 weeks while the heat kills the grass, weed, etc. I like that there is no herbicide, but I will be losing a lot of growing time. Plus, I don't know what kind of toxins may be leeching into the soil from the plastic. I need to do more research before I decide about this option.
My third option is to till the grass under. This is a daunting task for me and my shovel given the soil conditions in Tennessee. We have clay, clay, and more clay. I called the Foothills Farmers Co-op to see about renting a tiller. I found out that the tillers they have available are too small for the job and will just bounce off the soil. They did, however, give me the name of someone who has much larger equipment. He is going to come by and take a look at what I am doing and make some suggestions.
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