Ripping up the backyard lawn and have a few questions

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by tlintx

I actually kind of assume bermuda and crab grass are just one of the hazards of growing here. I mean, you can't keep the seeds out, so sooner or later you'll have to re-deal with it.

I've found that a layer of newspaper, thick, will smother all the grasses I've got. However, if you miss even an inch (or leave a gap between paper and, say, the border) the grass will crawl up over the paper and into whatever soft bed you've prepared.

I have made several raised beds using the newspaper/raised bed solution and it seems to be working. Do you know what's under the first few inches of dirt? If it's a relatively old residential area you could be looking at trash or pipes or wires. I think Worth had it right -- raised beds are awesome.

Good point. Laying the newspaper down before setting a raised bed frame on is important, however the newspaper doesn't last long in warmer climates. The psst two years, I've been fighting grass despite sheet mulching, I've found that adding water and manure to dirt in the south means Bermuda, even if it wasn't there to start.
Some parts of coastal CA, though are probably too cool for major Bermuda issues.

[OldHondaNut]

Buy enough fertilizer (14-14-14) at the store for the size of the garden. Start spraying with compost teas and slowly convert to organic by doing a 4 year rotation.

For year 1 it is too late to amend the soil organically for corn without spending a ton of money and/or back breaking work. Really, when I hear some of these guys pour a thousand bucks into organics for a small garden...

[kevinrs]

My current plan is using 15-15-15, and chicken manure. I may plant some beans with the corn or something. at the end of the season I'll plant a cover crop, haven't decided what. Last year's cover crop I planted in the other garden area, which was 3 year old winter cover crop mix from Johnnys, I think I needed to get raked in better to get better coverage of seed that actually would grow, and with this years weird weather, none of it died back at any point in winter.
I've also got some garlic growing from topsets planted last spring, from sand hill, that grew more in winter than it did in summer. Not sure if it's going to mature and be harvestable at any point. My thinking, maybe in late august or so it will dry and be ready, that's when they harvest onions locally.

[OldHondaNut]

That sounds like a plan. Most important is to start soil building the areas for your next years corn and the following years. Green manure seeds from Johnny are an excellent source of organic nutrients. So are tree leaves especially if they have been chopped up by a mulching mower.