Thank you so much, that looks exactly right!

Definitely pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). No, the berries are not edible: somewhat poisonous, in fact. (In various parts of the country, cooked leaves and/or shoots from a young plant are a traditional spring green -- when properly prepared! However, no one agrees exactly what proper preparation is. But most folks eschew the whole plant. Each berry has 8-10 seeds. To kill a plant, you must remove the entire root.

Everything before 'cover with plastic and leave until next summer' would be unnecessary except to reduce the bulk by mowing or weed-wacking, so the plastic lays flat. Cardboard also works and does not need to be removed later, a plan I prefer since you never know what seeds are going to sprout after you remove a smother barrier. This also allows the weed material to decompose and help improve the soil with very little effort on your part. You can cover the cardboard with mulch so it's not ugly and stays in place. When you get a gardening urge next year, install some plants. Shrubs are the easiest to deal with when one doesn't have much time to spend. As long as they're not eventually too big for the spot, most can be a "plant it and forget it" plant that only needs occasional trimming for structure and dead twigs or branches. They will shade the ground around them so weeds are less likely to sprout, and it's easy to add new mulch around them as the old become thin enough to allow weeds to grow, and/or to add a new smother layer if something does creep into the area. Low maintenance and rock garden are not necessarily married. Do you mean a rock mulch? Whatever seeds find their way to that are just as likely to sprout, but harder to pull out, especially tree sprouts. Whatever you don't like, you're right to say it should go. You don't have to know what you want to eventually do to get started wiping the slate clean.

Wow, that was fast. You are good. Thats the plant. I'll go read about it now. Took all of 30 seconds to identify and I've been prolonging asking for two weeks now. Thank you very much for the help and have a nice evening.