advice please...one request of many

hi if u saw my pics in my introduce me thread u will know that i am hopeing to have a reasonably sized veggie patch in my garden.i am an absolute beginedr when it comes to the world of gardening and although i got the ideas i dont actually know what im doing.
the peice of land i am hopeing to use is aprox 25 meters sq and at the moment is home to many of my namesakes(dandilions)and thistles.growing veggies and or fruit to feed my kids on i want to be as organic as possible,is there any way i can rid my land of the lovley resident weeds with out chemicals?should i just nuke it with weedkiller before i start?
and when eventually i am rid of my pesky problem how do i get my soil to loook like fine sand like you see on the gardening programs on tv?
at present it is very hard very compacted soil with masses of lil yellow flowers and spikey weeds.
is it possible to grow me a variety of veggies this year? or am i hopeing high to get the ground ready and harvest a crop within the year?
sorry to be such a noob guys.any help and advice would be greatly apreciated.
it is really quiet importyant to me that i work alongside mother nature with as little chemical help as possible.

 

Hi Dandilion, and a warm welcome!

Dandilions certainly need careful digging if to be pulled out without leaving any root behind to re-grow. i don't use chemicals either, so know of no other method, than the dig-it-out. You could cover the worst areas with carpet for a couple of weeks or so, which will get rid of the annual weeds, but not the deep rooted perennials l(ike the dandilions).

Not sure if a flame torch would work - maybe it just kills the top?

As for your soil, it certainly sounds like you have some rotivating/digging to do if it is that compacted. Adding as much compost and/or well rotted (and seed/weed free) manure as you can lay your hands on will help with the general make-up, but I reckon the stuff you see on the telly originates form a bag!

Just had a look at your intro thread, and the pics - looks fab! You will have a great time transforming that into a wonderful garden for you and your kids!

If you caould post pics on here or in the identification area of the forum, it'll help with finding out if your weeds are perennial or annual.

Happy gardening!

 

Diging works well but if possible see if you can get an old fork as they were made with longer tines and it make it farr easier to get the complete root. The tines on my fork are close on 18" long and this enables even the most established docks to be lifted.

Personally id fork it, however if youve got bindweed or creeping buttercup then a couple of intial sprays with roundup will be more efective than forking alone.

 

By this time of year the weeds are growing like crazy and spreading seed, so wherever you prepare some bare earth to plant, the weed seeds will be in there. So one thing I suggest is not to do too much at one time. Dig an area that you can plant up, and then put in your seeds, plants or whatever. If you leave bare earth for a week or two at this time of year you'll just have to dig the weeds out all over again.

 

Hi and welcome to the wonderful world of vegetable growing. I haven't found your intro post yet but will have a look in a minute and am prepared to be impressed .
I would agree with the others on dandelions, dig them out if you can. Also on soil preparation. I'm a big fan of (slightly) raised beds and a four-way crop rotation (one of the many advantages of raised beds is that it's easy to record where you grew what last year and therefore work out what needs to go where this year!)
If you take a patch of soil at a time it's certainly not too late to sow some things this year. Salad leaves can be planted throughout most of the year, and I think I'm right in saying you can still plant beetroot, carrots, spring onions for a while. If you like sweetcorn and runner beans you could start some off in cells, pots, root trainers, loo roll middles, or whatever other containers, of compost. Also you could start some courgettes in small pots (I only put mine in this week, I am on the late side I guess but not massively so). Or you may find it easier to buy small plants from a garden centre, market or wherever.
How long it takes to prepare your soil will depend a lot on what type it is. Mine here is really easy to work, it's loamy and even when it had been compacted I could dig massive amounts in a few hours. Whereas my old allotment was on extremely heavy clay, and it took a whole day to dig a bed about 6 ft by 3 ft, and even then it was distinctly lumpy! I ended up digging manually then using a power digger then a tiller, and even so it was far from what you see on tv - but I still managed to get great crops, although I did take the precaution of starting most of the seeds at home in compost! So don't worry too much, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do