Hi all, I'm living in the house in which I grew up. YEARS ago, my dad had a veggie garden. The area has been used as a dumping ground for grass clippings, fallen and clipped sticks and branches, and raked up leaves for over 20 years now. We've burned parts of it on occasion but have never cleared the entire area and it's been a huge eye sore. Since I'm working from home and not spending all my remaining daytime hours sitting in traffic, I've begun separating the sticks and branches. I'd love to turn it back into a veggie garden. When I'm done removing the branches/sticks, the area will be mostly leaves in varying stages of decay with loose grass clippings and 1+ year old clumps of sod, some fine ashy wood, and small bits of sticks I miss and/or stir up as I rake through to find the bigger branches. I had thought to have a landscape company come in with a leaf vacuum, but there are SO many leaves and everything under the top layer are soaking wet and yucky. A local garden expert suggested I bring in soil, rake it over the leaves, add lime and compost, and plant butternut, zucchini, beans, peas, and in a corner with "mineral soil," tomatoes. Grow those this year, then rototill in the fall, and do more next year. Does that sound right to you guys? I didn't realize just HOW many leaves I had when I spoke with this gentleman--there's going to be 3-4 inches of them on top of the soil underneath. There's so much more to think about and figure out but I have to start somewhere, right? 
Thank you!
P.s. Garden size...best guess right now is 18x20 feet. I don't think I'll use all that space this year at this point but maybe I'll surprise myself.
Thank you!
P.s. Garden size...best guess right now is 18x20 feet. I don't think I'll use all that space this year at this point but maybe I'll surprise myself.
