"No Dig" not raised beds techniques

I have a large part of my garden that's been untouched until now other than being covered in a thin layer of grass. I'd like to get it ready for growth over the next few months to a year since it's in full sun and probably has the best water flow in the garden. I just finished a terracing garden bed project on the slope of my garden so mentally I'm a little done with building garden beds, especially in such a large area.

Are there "no-dig" methods in permaculture gardening that don't involve raised beds? My thinking is that I could focus on building up the existing soil instead. I could plant cover crops amongst the grass now by poking holes in the dirt and then just grow from the ground without tilling? Or should I rip up the grass? I'd still have to dig holes to plant the peas/beans and eventually the crops in the garden but I wouldn't be tilling so is that "no-dig"? What do permaculturists do on large farms? They can't possibly cover the whole farm with raised beds?

I'm new to permaculture and "no-dig" so I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out...

I'm definitely not an expert. You could dig up the grass and turn it upside down, but that's a lot of work.  If it was me, I would cover the area with cardboard, and put 8 to 12 inches of wood chips on the cardboard ( I get wood chips for the local tree service for free).  When you are ready to plant pull the wood chips back in a cone shape. Cut out a small piece of the cardboard, so the roots can go into the soil. Fill the cone shape with compost and plant your seeds,  or seedlings.  I have used this technique, in an area covered with weeds, and it worked very well.  Word of warning, you have to add wood chips every year.  It's been totally worth it for me. It has created amazing soil, cut down on water, and turned a weedy mess into a great growing space.
Good luck to you. Happy growing.

I recommend checking out Charles Dowding's books and YouTube videos.  He basically puts down a layer of cardboard and covers it with compost.  I am no where close to producing enough compost to create an entire planting area, but am incorporating the no-dig technique in my existing raised beds.

+1 on the cardboard plus biomass plan.
I planted potatoes in leaf litter filled cardboard boxes last year.
I got crap potatoes and good soil out of it.
The seed potatoes came from a dumpster, so...

You definitely don't need to do raised beds to do no-dig.

I think the biggest issue in either case is forcing the grass/turf/existing ground cover to lose the competition for sunlight/water while leaving their roots and biomass in place (if you want to do no-dig). If you just poke a hole for seed in the grass without making enough space, the grass is likely to outcompete the crop plant (though I'd be interested in your results if you do try this). There may be a series of plants that you can go through to beat the grass and prepare the soil for gardening but I'm unaware of any. Maybe if you could get daikons to grow? Sometimes they are called tillage radishes.

Charles Dowding and company use the sheet mulch (cardboard) and deep compost combination to achieve this.

Some folks suggest that deep compost might cause run-off and off gassing problems, so I've seen some negative comments about the deep composting. Charles suggests it isn't as big of a problem as that, but I don't know that the measurements are being taken to confirm either stance. I would guess that like most things - it depends.

If you have a lot of ground to turn into garden then you need a lot of mulch. Sheet mulching can be difficult. Cardboard doesn't always break down. Offsite woodchips can bring in... funky things (I think I got some ticks in my last load) depending on where they are sourced. Plastic is easy to use but... it's plastic... and I'm personally trying to get away from plastic as much as possible.

I believe a lot of people till the ground the first year because the above problem is... hard to solve and every solution has its problems and caveats. Doing it this way you clear the turf and break the ground enough for crops to get a foothold, and then do no-dig from the second season on.

The best solution for you likely depends on what resources you have and don't and the local climate.

Edit to add: Another solution is to do it one small area at a time. This can help you deal with collecting enough material to sheet mulch.

Thank you for all your ideas!

I think what I'm going to do is just cover the area in paper/cardboard and then throw dead leaves on it (due to a lack of mulch) then plants beans/peas to fix the nitrogen and oregano to accumulate nutrients... possibly also some sunflowers to help break up rocks. It'll be a lot of work but hopefully, I'll get some good tomato-growing soil by next year!

The main benefits of raising the beds are drainage and accessibility closer to arm’s reach with less bending. If those aren’t critical, or if you’re in a desert climate where desiccation is a big problem, then it can make sense to stay on grade.

I’d recommend checking out Geoff Lawton’s videos on a method similar to what you describe. His soil movie is also excellent and free.

I would b careful with sunflowers. Even though they are said to make great companion plants, they are allelopathic, which means they give off a toxin that impede growth of other plants, or even kill them.  I love sunflowers, but keep them out of my veggie garden.