Middle patch
BEFORE


AFTER


Yesterday we forked and dug up a 2m x 2m section in the middle of the veggie patch area, and planted the following
2 x peppers
3 x cherry tomatoes (donated from neighbour)
2 x tomato "Sweet Millions"
2 x tomato "Money Maker"
6 x iceberg lettuce
12 x sugar snap peas around the bottom of the stake pyramid
1 x mini cucumber "Delta Star" in the middle of the stake pyramid
12 x mini sweet corn "Mini Pop"
and 1 x Butternut squash "Sprinter" off to one side away from the main veggie patch (you can just see it in the top left of the picture above).

We've also got some carrot and onion seeds to sow when we finish clearing to the fence boundary either today or tomorrow.

So, have I done the right thing in just strimming down all the horrible weeds? Most of them were taller than me! No veggies had been cultivated there for at least 2 years the last owners just gave up.

I really, really wanted to just get something small in now, for this year, so we only forked through/dug over a small section. Now, what do I do with the rest of the patch?

My neighbour has volunteered to bring me a bottle of super-strength industrial RoundUp home from work to clear the remainder, but I don't know how I feel about using chemicals on a veggie patch?

We have loads and loads of packing boxes left from the move, I have read on here that others recommend just breaking the boxes open and putting straight onto the weeds, will this really kill them all? Do I just put bricks on top or do I put horse manure on top? And I take it that this would then be ready for planting next spring?

My parents were huge gardeners when I was a kid but they're in Australia so I can't really call on them for help. I've never grown a thing in my life so have no idea if I've done the wrong thing here and would really appreciate some advice on getting the weeds out of the rest of the veggie patch!

Many thanks for any/all replies!

Ness