How to prepare field for next growing season

After a few years of growing a 200-300m2 (less than 0.1 acres) vegetable garden I got access to a field of 5000m2 (1.2 acres), with the possibility to get more next year.

Now we are starting to plan ahead, what to plant in the autumn and on how to prepare the field for next year. My aim would be to follow no-dig as much as possible, and only use hand tools. So I also do not want a tractor on that field again. We have access to cow manure, seaweed meal, a weed torch and different hoes. We could probably also get straw bales later on in the year. What can I do, once all the annuals are harvested (95% of the field), to improve the soil health for next year? And how to I get best rid of some of the weeds, especially grass that has started to creep in from the edges? I am fine with a fair amount of weed, but especially the grass has me worried.

I have some ideas myself, but would like to get some input.

As a background, I am based in denmark, the the whole field is 2.7ha or 6.7 acres and has been used for growing oats in the previous year. Before I got access to the field, everything has been ploughed and poorly harrowed. Then on 2.2ha (5.4 acres) a fertilizing flower mix has been planted.

A lot of the field received no amendments this year. I mulched mostly the high input crops, like squash and corn with goat or cow manure. It overall seems to be a mixed bag, potatoes have been doing ok, flint corn seems to be doing well, flour corn not as much, squash/pumpkin some are doing well, some not so much, leeks are growing really slowly, etc. We have also planted legumes (peas and beans) on around 1/6 of the field. The peas have been doing well, the beans not as well. The weeding has been minimal and there are also a fair amount of nitrogen fixing weeds, especially white clover.

I would really appreciate any help.

That's a lot of land to weed by hand. Heavy mulch, cardboard, thick layers of straw, wood chips. Not sure what would be easily available in Denmark.

Grass is my bane too. No broadleaf weed comes close to being so annoying. You might consider having just the edge strips plowed to keep it from infiltrating.

Let us know what you tried and how it worked.

Thom Bri wrote:That's a lot of land to weed by hand. Heavy mulch, cardboard, thick layers of straw, wood chips. Not sure what would be easily available in Denmark.

Grass is my bane too. No broadleaf weed comes close to being so annoying. You might consider having just the edge strips plowed to keep it from infiltrating.

Let us know what you tried and how it worked.

Part of the idea is also to create landraces that need minimal weeding. For example my peas needed no weeding at all, my best growing squashes, corn etc needed substantially less weeding than the worst ones.

I was thinking of using the weed torch to get rid of the grass, to emulate like some of the native Americans burnt their fields. But I wonder what the best approach would be. Doing it in the autumn and then mulching? Or doing it in late winter/early spring before planting? Does anyone have any sources on how it has been done traditionally?

My thoughts are how did you prepare you current garden for planting.  did that work for you?  why not do the same now?

Most folks don`t consider landraces until later, so is now a good time when trying to start are new garden?

Just my thoughts ...

Burning is a short term fix for invasive grasses. They come right back up from the roots. Around here some people burn grassy areas to encourage new growth. You would need to use the weed torch several times to make much progress, but I suppose it would eventually work.

Thom Bri wrote:Burning is a short term fix for invasive grasses. They come right back up from the roots. Around here some people burn grassy areas to encourage new growth. You would need to use the weed torch several times to make much progress, but I suppose it would eventually work.

That is also what I thought. When do you think it would be best to start though? Already now, to weaken it before witnter? Or best after winter/early spring, so the field is more covered?

Anne Miller wrote:My thoughts are how did you prepare you current garden for planting.  did that work for you?  why not do the same now?

Most folks don`t consider landraces until later, so is now a good time when trying to start are new garden?

Just my thoughts ...

The differences now are scale, I don't have access to so much cardboard to smother the grass and I moved quite frequently so never really had to think about a long term approach. But that is different now.

But I guess one approach could be burning the grass and then make permanent beds with cow manure and straw on top of the soil?

Cover crops are a very easy and relatively inexpensive option, both in terms of labor and materials. You might hoe and/or hand weed the weedy sections of the field, then sow a diverse cover crop that dies back in winter, and do that for wherever you are harvesting and finishing a bed. You can also harvest some leaves from the cover crop as green vegetables, like turnip, radish, and pea greens, while leaving the roots in the earth. Or you can cut them back as chop and drop plants. Then when winter sets in, add any seaweed/manure?

I also would think a border of robust perennials may also help to keep weeds out— rhubarb, horseradish, comfrey, clumping grasses, bulbs, etc. Any harvestable or useful or at least non-invasive perennial plant.