It is not always the case that the owners get the plots in excellent condition with the beds dug up and trimmed. Basically, the new owner simply receives a plot overgrown with weeds and weeds with fruit trees and bushes that have gone wild and began to bear completely different large and juicy fruits than they previously bore in a well-groomed state. However, sometimes a plot of land is inherited from grandparents, or it is simply forgotten about for a while, during which time it becomes overgrown with weeds and thickets of grass as tall as a man. Of course, it is impossible to plant anything in such an area without first clearing it. The first task facing the owner of the site is to clear the territory and prepare it for the next season.
In general, smart and zealous gardeners have long come up with many ways that allow them to quickly and efficiently develop virgin soil in order to use the land for their needs. After all, land that has rested for several years and is overgrown with weeds is excellent for any planting, since it has accumulated all the necessary nutrients. All that remains is to bring it into proper condition and begin to implement your plan. But this sounds simple only in words. In fact, this is a huge amount of work that requires a lot of effort and time. But the result is worth it.
In general, all methods of developing virgin soil can be divided into those that allow you to plant some plants in the first season after processing and those that do not allow you to do this.
Radical changes
This method is considered quite simple in concept and labor-intensive in execution. In the process of clearing a site from thickets, it is necessary to remove the top layer of earth, called turf, in which numerous roots are intertwined. The cut layers are placed in a designated area with the roots facing up and covered with material that does not transmit light. Periodically, this pile should be treated with urea so that after a few years it turns into excellent compost.
As for the soil itself, a new layer of soil is poured on top of the cleared soil, which is ordered on several machines. The main thing is to know the origin of the soil and its quality. Otherwise, you risk wasting money and getting a new layer of soil rich in weeds and pathogens and even pests.
The simpler the better
The first method is relatively easier, since it involves digging up the area manually without removing the weed roots. Another thing is that with this method you will not be able to sow a lot of things on the site for a long time. Cabbage and potatoes will come to the rescue. Cabbage is planted as seedlings, but as it grows it will bring powerful shade from its leaves, just like cabbage. This shade will cover the ground and begin to suppress weed growth. In addition, you will need to periodically hill up the beds, which will also help destroy weeds.
For greater effect, you can mulch between rows with grass clippings, manure or compost. 
Useful waste paper
This very original method will be effective if you carefully follow the instructions. To make it a reality, you will need rotted manure (you can use chicken manure, compost or humus). This composition must be evenly distributed over the entire area of the developed area and covered on top with black and white newspaper 5-7 layers thick. If you find this difficult, you can replace the newspaper with thick cardboard. Compost mixed with manure is poured onto the paper layer on top.
The advantage of this method is that you can make holes in newspapers in which you can plant any crops grown through seedlings. This is perfect for those who don’t want to wait a long time, being content with only potatoes and cabbage. At the end of the season, in addition to an excellent harvest of the crops you grow, you will also receive a clean area with soil enriched with vitamins and microelements. 
Black bedspread
Black film is a fairly well-known way to get rid of weeds. You can cover the entire area with it, so that under the hot summer sun a real hell will be created for all living plants. Not a single weed can survive the absence of sunlight and this steam room, so by the end of the season the film can be removed, the soil can be dug up and you will feel like a winner. Alas, with this method there is no talk of any plantings this season.
Green manure comes to the rescue (video - site planning)
Many nice words have been said about green manure plants, which have a lot of benefits. Including during the development of the site. Among all the crops in this series, there are three that will cope with the task better than others.
Winter rye is the first of these three helper crops that will rid the area of weeds. Rye itself perfectly suppresses the growth of other plants, and winter rye is used for a reason. Rye seeds are planted in spring instead of autumn. Thus, the gardener deceives the plant, which will not be able to bloom during the season and will not form an ear.
You can enhance the effect if you cut wheat several times a season without damaging the growing part of the plant. In the spring of the next season, the rye will go into the ground, and in its place you can plant potatoes or other crops, depending on how overgrown your area is.
Sunflower is a much easier job for a summer resident, but no less ruthless in relation to weeds. In early May, its seeds are planted in the ground after digging as thick as possible. When the seedlings emerge from the ground, other plants simply have no chance to survive under such pressure.
At the beginning of autumn, sunflowers can be mowed and chopped into pieces of twenty centimeters, and then thrown into the soil. During the fall, these parts will decompose and well fertilize the ground, preparing it for planting new crops next season.
Bush beans are not only effective, but also delicious. You just need to sow it thicker than is usually prescribed for it. A distance of 5-10 cm is maintained between plants, and 20-30 cm between rows. During the first month, you will still have to weed between the plants, and then the beans will cover the entire bed with their leaves, and in this shade it is unlikely that anything will be able to grow. When the season comes to an end, the tops of the beans will go into compost, and you should go through the area with a hoe to remove the most tenacious weeds.
As you can see, the methods are very different in nature. You can choose any of them, depending on whether you are in a hurry to plant something on your site or are ready to wait for time and the sun to do their job. In any case, if you take up this task and bring it to the end, you can then enjoy the pleasures of working on your weed-free plot.
A novice gardener who has just received a brand new plot of land that has not been cultivated for many years or has never been cultivated is usually horrified. How to turn this uneven field overgrown with weeds into a well-groomed fruit-bearing vegetable garden or garden? Where to start? What to grab onto? And first of all, of course, he grabs his head...
However, virgin soil should be perceived by gardeners not as an impending nightmare, but as a gift. Together with undeveloped virgin soil, we are given the opportunity to create fertile soil on our piece of land from the very beginning. Not to suck out of it everything that has accumulated over many years of being “fallow,” but to truly create it. Developing virgin soil without digging is the first step towards gardening in close collaboration with nature.
The first thing I would like to advise regarding the development of virgin lands on the principles of natural farming is to be patient. Did you manage to plant only three beds during the season? That’s great, next year they will already be working for you, and you will continue the gradual development of your site.
If we have firmly decided that we do not intend to dig soil in our garden, this does not mean that we will not have to work at all, and nature will do everything for us. There will be a lot of work, but it will be completely different. And the first thing that is recommended to be done on a virgin plot is to mow down all the weeds. It is advisable to mow early, before flowering.
All the cut grass can be left lying directly on the ground as food for worms and other soil inhabitants, or you can rake it into a large pile with a pitchfork and then use it as mulch when making beds.
Development of virgin soil without digging: planning and marking
The next stage of development involves not so much physical as mental labor. It is necessary to think about, plan, draw, draw, and subsequently mark out future beds and row spacing in place.
You can go the classic route and mark out meter-wide beds with 60-70 centimeters of free space between them.
Many natural farmers are now leaning in favor of . As they say, what is easier - to plant 50 plants and collect 50 kilograms of crops or to plant 10 plants and collect the same 50 kilograms from them? Narrow beds are aimed precisely at getting a larger harvest from a smaller area. In addition, wide aisles will be easier to mow in the future, and more grass will grow in them (it is the grass mowed in the aisles that will become the main mulch for our future beds).
Or you can even be original: make the beds round, triangular, asymmetrical - in this matter, everything is your will.
What else is important to pay attention to when planning beds? On the climate! If hot, dry summers are the norm for your region, don't get carried away with raised beds in boxes; organic trenches and sunken beds are better suited for you. In cool and rainy climates, the opposite is true. If there is complete uncertainty with weather conditions, if there are often sudden changes in temperature, flat beds directly on the ground are preferable.
Development of virgin soil without digging: arrangement of beds
So, the pegs are driven in, the beds are marked. It's time to get serious about them. The biggest problem of virgin lands is perennial weeds. Their roots have long gone deep into the soil, and the seeds are everywhere. Therefore, the main task of the gardener is to choke out the weeds and prevent them from germinating. And this problem is solved with the help of darkening. In this regard, no matter what type of beds you choose - boxes, trenches or flat ridges on the ground - the bed must be isolated from light so that the roots and seeds of weeds do not have the opportunity to germinate. Usually, for this purpose, the space under the garden bed is lined with several layers (3-5 layers) of cardboard or newspapers, or covered with black opaque film.
Option 1. If we are not in a hurry, we leave the bed like this for the whole season. Under the cardboard or film, soil microorganisms and worms will begin to work; in the absence of light, most of the roots of perennial weeds will begin to die, rot and eventually become fertilizer. Some particularly persistent weeds, of course, will begin to look for light and crawl into the aisles between the beds, and here we must be ready with a scythe at the ready. Just regularly mow the grass in the aisles before the weeds bloom. In the fall, you can sow in such a bed, and next spring, pull out a few “unkilled” weeds with a pitchfork and plant vegetables.
By the way, many gardeners prefer rye as a green manure for virgin soil - it is famous for its ability to suppress weeds, and it also perfectly structures the soil. Just don’t need to bury it later, just mow it and use the green mass for mulch, and leave the roots to rot in the soil.
Option 2. If you don’t want to waste time, but want to grow something right away in the first year, then top the cardboard or newspapers with a thick layer of mulching materials: rotted manure, humus, compost, algae, turf soil.
The mulch layer should be at least 10 centimeters. In such a bed in the same season you can plant seedlings of heat-loving crops: zucchini, pumpkin, tomatoes, peppers. The procedure is as follows: we rake up the mulch layer and stick something sharp in order to punch a hole in all layers of cardboard; through this hole the roots will stretch deeper. Above the hole we place the seedlings directly in a paper or peat cup, surround this cup with a small amount of earth, and then cover it with mulch. We water the plantings. After a couple of weeks, we mulch our bed with light materials: cut grass, straw, leaves, sawdust, seed husks. The recommended layer of mulch is half the size of a shovel. A bed mulched in this way practically does not need any additional watering (unless it’s hot, of course) or fertilizing.
In the fall, this bed can be sown with green manure or more mulch can be added on top. The main thing is not to disturb the soil, there are still weed seeds in it, so let them remain there, in the depths, and from year to year we will simply sprinkle organic matter on top, forming a new fertile layer of soil.
Don’t be afraid of virgin soil, develop it correctly, make the most of its rich resources, and then the garden will feed you and your family for many years to come.
We wish you success and great harvests!
Tillage in autumn is one of the most important elements of crop cultivation technology. In arid areas, this contributes to the accumulation and preservation of moisture in the soil; in excessively moist areas, it helps to eliminate it.
Besides, this technique improves the air and nutrient regimes of the soil, creates favorable conditions for the life of soil microorganisms, ensures the incorporation of fertilizers, and plays an important role in the fight against weeds, diseases and pests of agricultural crops.
Very often, novice summer residents are given land for a vegetable garden with a predominance of low-value rhizome and root weeds (wheatgrass, sow thistle, dandelion, thistle) in the grass stand. It is important to properly treat such areas and dig up the turf.
Disking
There is a classic formation cutting scheme perennial herbs and it is advisable to strictly adhere to it. The field is disked in two directions (first along, then across). This agricultural technique shreds the turf and partially turns it over. Very often, on heavy, waterlogged soils, disking completely replaces autumn plowing, especially for vegetable crops.
Disking is carried out using disc harrows, hullers and plows (without formation rotation). The discs are good at cutting horizontally located rhizomes and root suckers into small pieces and provoking them to germinate. It is best to repeat disking before frost sets in.
The second treatment is usually carried out after 2-3 weeks. after the first, or more precisely, after the crumbled weed seeds germinate. If the turf has been well cut since the fall, spring plowing will ensure good wrapping of the layer.
Perennial grasses are a good predecessor for many crops. It is best to place cabbage or potatoes in such an area. To avoid large labor costs in developing such a site, your actions must be rational.
It is advisable to divide the area in half, then mark the middle and dig the first furrow exactly in the center. Before this, remove a layer of turf 5 cm thick and lay it with the grass up at the edge of the second half of the plot.
Then, digging deep into the bayonet of the shovel, take out the layer and put it next to it with previously removed turf. The soil at the bottom of the furrow is loosened with a pitchfork to a depth of 20-25 cm. If necessary, fertilizers are applied at the same time.
Next, remove the turf at the site of the second furrow. and lay it on the bottom of the first, the furrow itself is covered with soil from the second furrow. This is repeated until the area is dug up. The turf removed from the first furrow is transferred to the last.
This way processing of a layer of perennial grasses significantly improves the water and physical properties of the soil. And most importantly, it destroys the compacted layer of soil, called the sole.
Such a sole is usually formed as a result of tilling the soil to the same depth (at the bayonet of a shovel). As a rule, such a soil base negatively affects the growth of many agricultural crops, especially root crops.
How to dig up soil
A simple digging of an area is not much different from the above, the only difference is in removing the turf. For the winter, it is recommended to dig up the garden without breaking up the clods.
This will help retain snow and accumulate moisture in the soil. In addition, during late autumn digging, pests that have gone into the soil for the winter end up close to the surface and most often die.
Minimum tillage
In agriculture, minimal tillage is widely used, the essence of which is reducing the number and depth of cultivation in well-cultivated areas.
For example, in areas of sufficient moisture, fall plowing (digging) for row crops is replaced by shallow or surface tillage.
This leads to a reduction in labor and energy costs, and a reduction in excessive soil compaction. Experts say that minimal tillage slows down the process of humus decomposition and thereby helps preserve its fertility.
The practice of growing vegetables without pre-cultivation of the soil has also developed. Her followers sow seeds or plant seedlings on a layer of compost scattered over the surface of the plot.
The basis of this practice is theory of natural restoration of soil fertility. According to proponents of minimal tillage, digging leads not only to the destruction of growing weeds, but also to the germination of numerous seeds in the soil.
Of course, the minimum tillage method has its own advantages: the level of fertility that develops under such a farming system contributes to the successful cultivation of vegetables, but it has been experimentally established that in dug up areas the yield and quality of vegetable crops doubles.
In conclusion, I suggest you watch the video that tells experience in putting fallow lands into circulation:
They ask me about how to develop a virgin plot of a new dacha, it’s a pity to write so much in the comments - I’ll post it in a separate post.
Firstly, if the site has been neglected for a long time, this is... no, not a complete peep***)))) This is great happiness! After all, during all this time, the earth rested, was “fallow”, plants grew and died, rotted, they were eaten by all sorts of microorganisms and the soil improved from year to year. Look at the grass in the meadows - and who feeds and waters it? Natural balance. When improving the site, the main thing is not to break this balance, let everything grow like that - of course, only instead of wheatgrass there are carrots. :)
When developing virgin soil, due to lack of experience and knowledge, I did things that I now consider to be my mistakes. What would I do now having received a piece of “wild” land:
1. I bought an electric cultivator
2. I bought an electric lawn mower with a grass catcher.
3. I bought a good thick wire, from which I could make an extension cord myself (so that it would be enough to reach any point on the site)
4. I bought the thickest black agrospan: for strawberries from 1.2 m wide, for beds of tomatoes, peppers and cabbage - 0.8 m
5. Irrigation hose and a reel on wheels, plus a gun attachment with switchable irrigation mode
6. An empty 200 liter barrel for infusion of fertilizer (herbal)
7. I would never buy any chemical fertilizers, except nitrogen ones for the lawn.
8. I almost forgot about the Fokin flat cutter - buy it!
9. I would find it on the Internet and read it "Smart garden and smart vegetable garden" Kurdyumov
Land cultivation.
1. I would not plow the ground with a tractor - ever.
2. I would not plow the entire area with a motor cultivator, except if there was wheatgrass there
3. I would lay out the beds in the north-south direction, make them 50 cm wide, and the row spacing from 80 cm to a meter wide.
4. If I developed narrow beds and simply mowed the row spacing, the perennial weeds in the beds would die, and the row spacing would turn into a good natural lawn that is very resistant to trampling.
Why did I choose green paths? Bare earth has some disadvantages:
1. Draws moisture away from the beds
2. After watering it turns into an earthen swamp - do not step on it
3. Dries quickly and cracks, becoming dead concrete
4. Overgrown with weeds and need to be weeded
What about live tracks?
1. Always clean and beautiful
2. Turf retains moisture.
3. They don't get hot in the sun
4. Plants live in a natural environment (bare soil in nature occurs only in barren areas)
5. Trimmed it with a lawnmower and covered the neighboring bed with mulch - very convenient!
A lot has been written on the Internet about the advantages of narrow beds, I won’t repeat myself, just very briefly:
1. The strongest plants are always at the edge of the bed, so we make beds where everyone is on the edge
2. This happens because, in addition to food from the earth, they take a lot from the sun and air
3. It is better to plant 10 plants and get 100 kg from them, than 20 plants and get the same 100 kg from them (exaggerated)
4. It is convenient to work with such beds, especially when stepping over them))))
So what would I do next?
1. I would mow the entire area and put the grass in a pile
2. I marked out the places for the beds with twine and pegs.
3. I would remove the turf from the first bed - cut it into squares with a sharp shovel and put it aside
4. I dug a trench as deep as a spade bayonet.
5. Placed the turf there with the grass facing down.
6. I would lay cut grass on top, almost filling the trench
7. I would put the earth on it that I dug out of the trench
It turned out to be a wonderful warm fertile bed.
All that remains is to sow it with green manure - for example, mustard. When it grows, just cut it down (no digging! Its roots will die and are an excellent fertilizer) and leave it in this place to rot. Worms just love her.
If there is not so much enthusiasm, you can do it simpler: plow the place where the bed is planned with a motor cultivator (no deeper than 7 cm). If the soil is dry, water in the evening and cultivate in the morning. And sow with green manure - rye, for example. Let him suppress the weed. Chop it later and leave the green mass on the garden bed as mulch. Can be mowed with a lawn mower.
If you are not in a hurry, you can cover the future beds in several layers with cardboard boxes or old linoleum - I did this. Over the summer without light, any perennial weed will die. In the spring, you can sow anything on the cleared land. Lay it directly on thick grass - everything will die and the worms will grind it into the fertile layer.
Plant seedlings, trying not to dig the ground too much. Cover the beds with mulch - sprinkle mown grass, for example, leaves. The bigger, the better. The water does not evaporate, the weeds do not grow, and the plants are fed in abundance!
You can cover the beds with black agrospan and cut out places for planting crosswise. This mulching material does not transmit light - the weed does not grow and does not release water (water less than five times).