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rhines81 · October 5, 2018

I haven't been on this site for a while. My car got rear-ended the day after Memorial Day and I suffered bad whiplash for the next few months (still only about 85%, but much better). The weekend following I would have been transplanting and seeding my raised beds, but that never happened and my started plants just rotted away in their containers.

Anyhow, fast forward to present day... I ran across a great deal on some "prime" farmland nearby and jumped on it. I should be closing by the end of next week. Waiting on the current owners to remove old tires and other trash and to get the well water tested.

I'd like to turn about a 1/8 acre (~100' x 50') into a garden area for 2019 and then expand later. The well and electric are about 500 feet away from where I plan to place the garden so that might be a bit of a hindrance. The main concern is prepping the ground this Fall for next year's garden.

I've heard that if you can till in the grass before it goes dormant, then it will only require another tilling in the Spring and it should remain mostly grass/weed free opposed to tilling in the grass only in the Spring and fighting the regrowth all season. Any of that true? Should I just wait until Spring, cover it up for a couple weeks, then till ... I just don't want to be fighting regrowth next year. The bad news is that we will probably get our first frost soon and it will be too late to get the first tilling done (if that part of what I heard is true). Or maybe just plow the area in the Spring, remove the grass/weeds and then till. Any advice there? Tractors and attachments will also come into play - it seems a 25hp PTO with attachments might be in order instead of separate machines for different tasks (log splitting, tilling, post hole digging, etc...)

October 5, 2018	#1
rhines81 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Zone 5A, Poconos Posts: 959	Breaking new ground I haven't been on this site for a while. My car got rear-ended the day after Memorial Day and I suffered bad whiplash for the next few months (still only about 85%, but much better). The weekend following I would have been transplanting and seeding my raised beds, but that never happened and my started plants just rotted away in their containers. Anyhow, fast forward to present day... I ran across a great deal on some "prime" farmland nearby and jumped on it. I should be closing by the end of next week. Waiting on the current owners to remove old tires and other trash and to get the well water tested. I'd like to turn about a 1/8 acre (~100' x 50') into a garden area for 2019 and then expand later. The well and electric are about 500 feet away from where I plan to place the garden so that might be a bit of a hindrance. The main concern is prepping the ground this Fall for next year's garden. I've heard that if you can till in the grass before it goes dormant, then it will only require another tilling in the Spring and it should remain mostly grass/weed free opposed to tilling in the grass only in the Spring and fighting the regrowth all season. Any of that true? Should I just wait until Spring, cover it up for a couple weeks, then till ... I just don't want to be fighting regrowth next year. The bad news is that we will probably get our first frost soon and it will be too late to get the first tilling done (if that part of what I heard is true). Or maybe just plow the area in the Spring, remove the grass/weeds and then till. Any advice there? Tractors and attachments will also come into play - it seems a 25hp PTO with attachments might be in order instead of separate machines for different tasks (log splitting, tilling, post hole digging, etc...)