My 2 c's, for what it's worth. Well maybe 3. ;-) A field that has been in hay for an extended period will have a lot of organic material - which is a good thing. Mowing as short as possible prior to tilling will help. However, it might take awhile for all of that material to break down. In the meanwhile, the decomposing material will use up soil nitrogen, so you might need to add some the first year. I'll second the recommendation for a soil test, since you don't want to over-fertilize, and you might need to add lime as well. If you will be planting as soon as you have broken ground, you might want to mow & remove the majority of the material; this will lessen the time required for the organic material to break down. The roots & stubble will still contain a lot of organic material. Green material will break down more rapidly than dead, brown material. There is also the question of perennial weeds, and how you intend to turn the soil. I've broken several lawns/fields into gardens; and when I rushed into planting, I had some real battles with thistle, quack grass, & other perennials that can propagate from root pieces. A single tilling just makes things worse, since every broken piece will sprout. It takes several cultivations (such as cultivation in Fall, followed by several cultivations in Spring) to kill the majority. If you have such weeds, the wait & additional cultivations can pay off in a major reduction in weeding. If the garden will be small, you could just solarize the area with a black plastic tarp, which would pretty much kill everything. You would need a lot of clear, sunny days for that to work, and you would want to leave the tarp on until inspection beneath it reveals no new weed sprouts. It's possible, depending upon how you maintain your garden, that the soil could become depleted fairly quickly. I lived in the Sound (Whidbey Island) for several years, and I know how much rain you will have. Extended periods of rainfall can leech nutrients from the soil, especially if it is sandy. Large amounts of organic material will help, as would the use of cover crops/trap crops that grow over winter, and are turned under in Spring. Your local Extension office might be able to advise you on the best cover crops for your area. Provided that the property is large enough, you might want to lay out several plots. Rotate the location of the garden every few years; as you are gardening in one, you can begin cultivating the next plot, and raising a cover crop which will help to beat back some of the weeds. By the next year, after several cultivations, the next plot will be ready... and you can let the first plot go fallow (or cover crop, such as clover or alfalfa). I've seen the results of such a rotation, and it is a method I highly recommend for those that have the room. Oh, and one last warning: be prepared for rocks & debris!!! I would highly recommend that if you intend to use a rotary tiller, you first have someone disc the area you will be planting. This will uncover any large objects which might otherwise destroy your tiller. You'd be amazed what you can find in a field... I've found large pieces of buried pipe (with my tiller). :-(

hi. I understand. I just retired at 57 and am really enjoying my basic yard in an average subdivision in Vancouver wa. kids are grown. when one of them made me a grandpa I let them rent my home and after living in a studio rental for a year ive moved back home and bought a huge rv and have it plumbed and wired and in back "yard". i used to really enjoy lawn and garden but lost all interest about 7 years ago and everything went to hell. haha so i have entire front lawn, much to the amusement of my neighbors grass free and am loving growing annuals, veggies and flowers. now i am almost to the point of planting 2000 feet in lawn in back and next spring will garden in the area not in lawn back there too. how old your kids? do they get to go to school where you wanted? i hope i didn't come across wrong and apparently i didn't but man you got lots of work no matter what you do don't you? lol. i used to love yard work so much that in addition to working at port of Vancouver for 35 years, i bought a lawn aerator and did yard work for others on the side. probably didn't make a nickel looking back on it. i bring that up because i never used a verticutter (?) as you said you might to reseed. i always wonders how they worked. when someone wanted a complete lawn makeover , and they were never as huge as yours is, i always rounded their lawn up, thatched, aerated and then reseeded and top-dressed with some grass mulch stuff they sell in bales around here. its a by product of the huge Oregon grassed industry and is seed free and i wither dispersed by hand or rented a caged roller thing that worked great for that. im really interested in what you do. so when you get a minute down the road email me and send pics if you like. im keith dahl kgd1956@gmail.com thanks for getting back. oh by the way, here we are having one of the driest July's on record. no measurable rain since June, with no end in sight. im a heat wimp anymore so i get my stuff done in the morning and enjoy the AC in the RV as i please. life's good. im divorced so i don't have a "honey do" list. my neighbor dude says i have a "homie-do" list haha pic of grand daughter sleeping on me. im pretty crazy about her. :-)

I wish I knew more about bahia. Properly mowed and watered St Augustine will out compete and win against bermuda in the south but I'm not sure about bahia. I've never had any luck with chemical fertilizers, but if you are interested in an organic approach I can help you. No matter which approach to fertilizer you take, you should water infrequently but deeply each time. That means you don't water every day. In the heat of summer I water my St Augustine once a week for 1-3 hours at a time in each zone. This watering approach will keep most weeds, including crabgrass, from establishing in your lawn. The other big thing is to mow at your mower's highest setting. There is never a reason to mow St Augustine any lower than the highest setting. The extra shade from the tall grass works wonders on the entire system. Among other things it helps along with infrequent watering to keep weeds away. If you have broadleafed weeds, you will need to pull those or spot spray with Weed-B-Gone spray if you like chemicals for that. St Augustine cannot compete with those. If they have a taproot (like dandelion) then you can pull them from a standing position with a tool like the Weed Hound.

We bought a very old log cabin from the local historical society.We dismantled it brought it here to our property and rebuild it the way it was.Mine is only 1 room downwith fire place. with a small loft upstairs.Were getting ready to put a porch on it.Its so sweet.We built an enclosed kitchen garden beside it.brick floor with 8 raised beds.picket fence around it.