To weed or not to weed: abandoned raised beds

[caseycairo]

Hello! I just moved into a house with a huge garden, including two raised beds covered with crabgrass and other weeds. I know its late in the season, but I just ordered vegetable seeds such as peas, cucumber, lettuce, and carrots for a fall planting. While I wait for them to come in the mail, I'd like to prepare these raised beds. Should I remove all the weeds and leave bare soil, or should I leave them (till them into the soil somehow)? Also, there is an abandoned compost pile, should I mix some of that in?

THANK YOU!
Jenn

[gumbo2176]

Jenn, if it were me, I'd pull the crabgrass and check the compost pile to make sure it is properly decayed and can be used before adding it to the beds. Once the beds are prepared, I'd cover them with a good bit of mulch or some weed blocking material to keep the weeds at a minimum till ready to plant. Depending on your climate, plant what you can for your zone. If you buy seeds at a local nursery, the packets have planting guides on them for your particular zone.

I live in New Orleans and now is not an ideal time to plant just about anything but Okra since the summer heat is getting ready to peak for the next 2 months. Most any leafy vegetable like lettuce, spinach, swiss chard etc. will not do well this time of year, but in the fall, they thrive and often carry over till the spring with our mild winter temps.

[tomatogarden]

Try putting some banana peels into your compost, it works well.:)

[HelenT1964]

...I would say that the answer to this is almost always the same. Get the plants and gras out of the ground as soon as possible so that they don't "steal" nutrients from next years crop.

The only thing I'd say is worth leaving, or maybe even planting first is some nitrogen fixing beans because they will actually help create richer more fertile soil in your raised beds.

If I were you I'd read up on natural crop rotation - perfect for raised beds ;)

H.