Your clay soil beneath - sounds like a description of a good deal of our region's problem. One of the "quick" ways to overcome the problem - is to grow in containers. Although for many of us, the containers have become larger and larger - as our desires or needs dictate. Box growing has become quite popular. My particular type is made out of 1 x 6 inch cedar board boxes that are doubled, cut into 3 ft. width x 6 ft. length sizes - now have 9 in all. The soil inside is 12 inches deep, and sits on top of ground (top soil over clay subsoil). As you can see that provides a growing depth space of at least 18 to 24 inches deep before hitting clay. This method has proven to be very easy for folks - like me -with limited physical strength - who are eager to garden without waiting for amendments to take their natural course. I grow most of our veggies that way, except for potato, and cooking onions - which we use a lot of and would require more space. But it is a great alternative if you only want a few fresh veggies each day. Also it helps to be able to have a longer growing time - temperature wise, as it is not necessary to grow all at once to take advantage of the climate in which you live. Also, introducing lots and lots of compost and manure to your soil - and let the worms and micro-herd dig deep mixing your soil for you. (may take awhile). Just my 2 c's. bejay

Joe, as you have made it clear in other threads that you never disturb the ground in any way with any kind of tool, could you give a hint as to how to plant! into sod? Because it sounds like your advice here is to cover sod with cardboard and etc and then before anything has decomposed begin planting. Also, perhaps you missed that this OP mentions that his is a second-year garden so presumably it is not presently established grass sod. Also it is unclear how cardboard will on a short time-scale amend the soil beneath. Within days or weeks we expect nutrients from compost etc to leach through the cardboard and have an effect on the ground beneath it? Ohio is not northern VA. There is a climate difference at least. In the latter place it's past time to plant spring crops, so the OP needs to amend the ground ASAP if he wants to have a chance to grow peas and lettuce and other cool-weather crops. Covering with cardboard won't do that, nor will it warm the soil. If he has not added lime in the past then the ground is surely acidic, and is the likely cause of last year's poor performance. The most effective tack to plant now is to make the rows or planting holes directly into the clay, incorporate goodly amounts of wood ash and compost, and plant!

I clean off the beds and take the remains and mulch them up with my lawn mower. I then till in any finished compost, leaves or even the minced up remains, fetilizer, manure, lime or whatever I am wanting in each raised bed. some years I put in nothing depending on what I am going to plant. Too rich of soil is not good for many cold climate crops. Now the bed is ready if I am planting a crop such as turnip that can be in the ground three weeks before the last crop. My soil is good and I don't have to till in the spring for anything. For peas and such I just till in the remains as they are high in organics and add anything else the soil might need for that year. I use fish in my compost so I don't need to add compost each year. I go every other year. I often till in leaves in the fall and they are always gone in the spring. I do not cover my beds with hay or anything. No need if there is no crop planted. In the north if we don't mince up the cabbage and other thick stemmed plants it will not be decomposed by spring and would be better of in your compost bin. I do mince up the compost also and already mine has rotted to slime from this falls waste. My soil has been added to and worked for many years so it is not hard from clay now. northspruce, we added leaves and Canadian peat to ours one year plus a small amount of sand and tilled the next spring and that was the end of the hard soil. Now the amendments are for nutrients only. I've had a great garden ever since and could plant it without tilling. Once the soil is great in raised beds you don't need to mulch even the perrenial things in the veggie garden. It thaws nicely. I am colder than most of you because I have to grow tomatoes in the greenhouse to get any sort of decent crop.

All of these ideas sound useful. I dug up the front lawn this year the hard way , that is I cut squares out of the sod ( beig careful not to damage the Silver Maple roots running through it) then sat around shaking the soil out depositing the remaining tufts into the municipal bin ( no room to store). Apart from getting to enjoy being outside for 3 consecutive weekends from dawn 'til dusk I met all the neighbours as they walked by in disbelief