Kill the sod, add leaves, till it up really well, sow a cover crop of winter rye (really late, but it might germinate, if not, it will germinate first thing in the spring).

Since time is of the essence, just use an herbicide to kill the sod.

I guess I completely disagree with denninmi! I hate ryegrass - I used it last year because I couldn't find winter wheat - never again.

Though I am not a tree hugger nor do I subscribe to the "better living through organics" mantra" I would resort to using a herbicide only as a last resort. Let that grass grow this fall and early next spring. Wait until about five weeks until you figure you will start planting. Till the ground real well, a couple of times the first go-round. Wait until after a rain, and once the ground dries, repeat. Keep repeating each week until you are ready to plant. All those sod roots will die and provide fantastic organic material to your soil.

I would get a soil test, just to see what the ground is like in terms of pH, N-P-K, Calcium and other nuits.

Good luck. Oh, and BTW, don't forget about blanching as opposed to canning. I do both, depending on what I want to preserve. I can potatoes and tomatoes but blanch corn, carrots and green beans. Much easier and less expensive!

Mike

I would use the 'lasagna' method. This is just what I did for my garden five years ago. Lay out cardboard or several layers of newspaper over the grass, wet it, and cover it with as much organic matter as you can find: manure, shredded leaves, straw, compost--many inches high. It will be ready to plant in the spring. Scout around for materials.

Mikes way will work but the lasagna method takes away all that work tilling. It also adds nutrients you might need. Also look into no-dig gardening. I've attached a link to one type of no-dig bed with detailed instructions and NO I'm not affiliated in any way. Just thought it was an interesting and very do-able design.

Here is a link that might be useful: No-Dig Garden Beds

I second lasagna method, then the establishment of permanent beds that are never tilled. Tilling kills lots of earthworms and disturbs soil structure. Permanent beds are low work, very high yield and allow you to target soil amendments to the areas where plants will grow instead of paths. The beds don't have to be raised, just lightly mounded. Mulch the paths with wood chips.

Lasagna will work, but the OP wants to start in spring. You will have to explain how to speed up the two processes outlined above for a spring planting.

Dan

Lasagna will work, but the OP wants to start in spring

I think you need to read the title again!

Given the money constraints of the OP, it is mandatory that all the leaves he or she can collect be placed in the garden now. They are available now, and they are free. They will not decompose by spring, so it would be best to till them in. If the soil is clay, it is best to till in the first application of leaves. If the soil is sandy or loam, they will mix well eventually.

The alternative, leaving them on top, is OK but it will preclude direct seeding in spring. I have planted many times through leaves, punching a hole through them to plant a seedling, and it works well though the soil remains cool and warm weather crops are delayed. Leaves generally disappear by the end of the next growing season.

Two feet of leaves are recommended, with continuing addition of leaves every year. I manage the garden so that beds that will receive direct seeding next year are either left bare in the winter, or covered with leaves, but then the leaves are removed. Beds that will receive seedlings (most notably cool weather crops such as collards, potato, or fennel) get leaves on top.

I do not spend a penny for mulch, compost, or fertilizer, and leaves are a major input to my garden. Another major input, which the OP may have access to, is wood ash, which mineralizes the soil, contributing everything except N. For a new garden, 1/4 lb per square foot can be added in the Fall, letting winter precipitation dilute it into the ground. Wood ash can be added up to shortly before planting, but it is best if there is a good rain between the last application and the first planting.

For N, the easiest, free, organic source is urine, which can be added directly through the dormant season and diluted 1/5 through the growing season. One quart for two square feet will provide just enough N for one year of crops. Leaves, too, will add N as they decay.

I think you need to read the title again!

Are you claiming all will be ready by spring? That is the point.

Dan

I would dumpster dive a bunch of thick cardboard, find a source of either cheap or free compost (just enough to cover the cardboard (weight it down) and then cover with a mulch... Just plant right into it next spring. You'll be amazed at how fast the worms will break everything down.

I had an area that i killed off this spring...did exactly what i wrote above...i was just in there digging yesterday and there wasn't a smidgen of cardboard, but i did keep finding long strips of clear tape! (that would have been connected to some of the cardboard)... Also found lots and lots of worms and some real nice soil. I'd also throw down some 10-10-10 and maybe a little lime just in case.

Whatever you decide...it isn't going to happen overnight (good soil) unless you start with nice raised beds fill with very good compost/soil.

Cardboard can be requested from furniture, grocery, and department stores. Remove staples and tape.

For compost, call your parks department and find out where they dump their leaves and grass clippings. Ask them to dump it at your yard or go pick it up. Ask the utility company to dump woodchips if you want them. Some people drive around at night and swipe leaf bags from curbs. Plant a fruit or nut tree.

And check out the Frugal forum.

Cardboard will just kill grass. It will not amend as well or as deeply as leaves. With heavy clay, for example, cardboard alone is not a good idea.

Sure it will...the worms eat the cardboard and they poop. I've used cardboard for 5+ years...it works fine and disappears in one season. It works for me.

Heavy clay stays heavy until you break it, believe it. Plus she is starting a garden, not maintaining it. I agree that once the soil is good the minimal amounts of organic matter provided by cardboard are enough to maintain a decent micro fauna. But in the beginning you need one inch equivalent of new soil, which is one foot of wood chips, or several feet of leaves.

Plus unworked heavy clay under another layer will not drain, and you will create a perched water table until the worms work it over for a few years.

The OP is asking for a time line that the suggestions so far likely cannot deliver in her zone. IMHO.

Dan

I can only tell you what I would do.

Till the sod under now. Find a local farm, and ask for manure - horse, cow, chicken, etc. They will most likely let you take it for free. Layer the manure and whatever leaves you can gather over the tilled sod, and till again. Cover with more leaves for the winter. In spring, plant thru the leaves, and use straw if you need more mulch at that point.

Watch municipal composts! They put everything they get in them, which can include some things you do not want in (or near) your garden.

Good luck on starting your new gardens!

I concur with Dan and Ekcor that leaves need a boost to be ready in the spring, and that manure would provide that boost. The tilling mixes them intimately. In Michigan, well mixed manure-leaves piles are ready by May.