Removing Turf

I'm slowly working on removing my lawn by digging, turning it over and piling on any perennials or branches I cut back in the yard. I'm hoping that next spring(or Fall) I could plant in this soil.

Any permaculture ideas to speed up the process a little. I was thinking of adding newspaper and then woodchips to really smother the weeds.

P.S. My rabbits really enjoy eating the grass off the dug up pieces but then they leave the soil and roots!

I like to smother grass with hay.

Lots of folks like to use newspaper or cardboard, but the glues in that give me the willies.

Jody-
I turned my whole lawn into planting space with essentially no digging by using sheet mulch--newspaper or cardboard plus layers of plant material. If you use just wood chips, it will kill the grass fine, but it will compost to much better soil if you add a lot of green stuff, and/or another form of nitrogen. (Urine works well). Fall is the time to do it--it will be ready for you to plant in the spring. The book Gaia's Garden has good instructions for this. Or, if you are the Jody that I met at the last wild plant walk, and you are coming to the one at Seward Park this week, I can tell you more about it then, or come to my garden afterwards and see for yourself!
Elizabeth

Thanks Elizabeth,

The established beds I have now were created by renting a sodcutter and flipping it over, then having composted manure delivered. then wood chips delivered. This cost me over $300 dollars... not to mention moving a 7 yard pile of #%#%# that they delivered at the base of my driveway instead of the top. I had to wait for a tree company to be in the area to deliver the chips (free).

In the end, I now have GREAT soil tilth but it didn't get me to the planting stage any sooner.

I think I'm just going to keep adding browns and greens until Spring and see what I have......MUCH easier!

BTW, I'm the Jody on the edible walk. I ordered a copy of Northwest Forager- thanks for that tip too.

Gotta endorse Gaia's Garden.  What a fantastic book.  I have mountains of books and that one is almost always at the top of the heap on my desk.  Only when I try to clean my desk does it see any shelf time. 

That dude is damn brilliant.