Personally, I'd probably go the raised bed route, Admittedly, if you're determined to improve the soil and plant in it, you'll have to do the hard part and dig the rocks. You can amend pretty well by turning in some leaf mold or compost when you dig the rocks, and then planting cover crops, that would get you pretty good soil in a few years, but the real question is if it's worth the effort of digging the rocks. I've done that before, and pulled somewhere between 30 and 100 lbs of rocks out of a 6 x 20 bed. I doubt I'll be willing to do that again, myself. As for raised beds, they don't have to be that expensive, and if you're not really going to get started till next year you have the time to collect your materials cheap. Look up Lasagna gardening for a really easy, and relatively cheap way to build a raised bed. The basic method is, stockpile all the stuff you would use to make compost and then fill your raised bed starting with a layer of wet cardboard or newspaper, right on top of the grass, no need for a bottom in your raised bed. Follow this with thin (2-3") layers of browns, greens, finished compost and/or peat. You can dust in some wood ash or bone meal as you go to bring in some for trace minerals as well. You can cover that with black plastic and let it cook for a few weeks, or even plant directly in to it. Really simple, and if you spent the time between now and then collecting materials, you could probably get away with very little investment.

Michele, I've planted Cereal Rye and Austrian Field Peas the last 2 winters and I love the combination. I'm not sure how your weather and mine compare in Winter, but we all can relate to hot, humid summers! Till and plant both in the Fall; they like cool temps and will die or not germinate in the heat. I usually plant October-November and they will make a short stand (12-18"high). Then they stay green, even at 15 degrees. They, Leland Cypress and Magnolia are my only true greens through Winter. Early Spring, they will make growth and bulk. I knock 'em down with my tiller when the Rye is shoulder or head high and before it can mature seeds. Lots of biomass. Never had them come back as a weed problem. Good luck. Steve

Cass, I am a woodworker and builder as well, as it happens. I started gardening seriously in 1997, fall time. Unfortunately dried wood, especially any rot-resistant species, makes a poor additive to soil. Green wood in fact breaks down much faster, that is why the "wood chips" from landscapers during the growing season will break down pretty fast, with all that sap and green matter in there. Woody stuff in general takes a long time to break down as compared to grassy material. If you have heavy soil you can use a lot more of it than if you have sandy soil. In any case 80 cu ft of maple dust and shavings over the plot that size shouldn't do much harm, short term (but definitely add some kind of rapidly-available fertility at planting time), and of course long term goes to carbon in the soil. In future it is probably better to stockpile such materials in a shady area for a few years and then add to soil, and always with some fertility as well: compost/tea, manure/tea, saved urine, etc. Good luck, don't over think stuff, everything will be fine, but grass and leaves are much better than wood.

Well- I have have to confess I have let the volunteers grow where they show up many times myself! I think fall is the time to plant garlic cloves to harvest heads the following year, at least that is how I have been told, and done myself. But I have not planted seeds and tubers in the vegi bed in the fall for spring. Flower seeds- yes, with limited success. I think hungry critters may be the cause as well as something near to winter rot and our more recent pronounced fluctuating temps causing germination at an improper times during warm "spells". I do still hope to get around to planting radish- lettuce- spinach in a raised bed or cold frame for fresh harvest this year- mostly just to see if I can- and to enjoy fresh greens! Please let us know how your experiment turns out if you attempt this this year! Julie