New garden: already full of weeds..

I just tilled a new garden space (2,000 sq. ft.) and fenced it (from deer) and put compost over the newly tilled ground. It rained and now is sunny at 85 degrees. The dirt looked black and pretty and is now green. How do I kill all this stuff or do I let it grow and till it again as I planned to in the Spring? I want to let chickens in later, so it cannot be toxic.

Thanks,
Ellie

Mow or till again before they seed............you are getting some green manure. Weeds are bad yet not totally bad!! They do enrich soils and make organic matter. I had a lot of 18 inch high volunteer sweetcorn and tomatoes by the hundreds that I plowed under Saturday.

I wondered about tilling again. The green is only an inch high so I think I will send in the chickens and then till the rest as suggested after they have eaten all they want.

Thanks for the reply,
Ellie

Ellie, good idea to send in the chickens! They'll benefit and so will you and the garden!

If it were me I'd try to identify the weeds to determine if they will be beneficial to the garden or not. If they are just "greenery" then I'd do as you and bring in the chicks or till it under, along with the compost you mentioned you'd just put on top of the soil.

I'm not familiar with your Calif Fall/Winter but if you want green manure I'd sow some clover or something and let it winter over, then turn that under in the Spring (which you were gonna do anyway, eh?) However, glad to hear you have chickens, they'll do a great job of scratching in the greens, eating whatever bugs/eggs are in the garden, manure it for ya, and you'll end up with a great garden patch.

Happy Gardening to ya! Let us know how it turns out!

Shoe

Hey Guys; You might want to check out these two books,
"Test Your Soil with Plants" by John Beeby-1997
"Weeds and What They Tell" by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer-1970 They both list uses for weeds both medicinally and agriculturally.Also lets you know what minerals and NPK your soil has or is lacking by which weeds are flourishing on your property.

Thanks very much, Shoe. I am very excited about this garden. Haven't done real veggie gardening in 30 years! I am really looking forward to it.

Zebra, I think that weed books may be in my future! I have 15 acres of em. we just mow them down every spring and then the soil bakes. Very, very hot here. Mostly I have star thistle which I hate.

Thanks again, everyone,
Ellie