If you are lucky enough to have just purchased a home or if for other reason you find yourself taking over someone else’s vegetable garden then there are a few things that you need to do before you get started with the new planting season.
The first thing the you should do is remove all of the vegetation whether its dead vegetables from last year or weeds and discard it. Don’t try turning under the matter for mulch as it will most likely cause more problems than good.
Trying to mulch weeds will just result in a massive amount of new weeds growing next season as they can propagate from both seeds and cuttings.
Last season’s vegetables should also be discarded because they can contain blight or disease they should not be turned under for mulch.
Once you have removed all the plants you can then start preparing the soil. The first thing that you want to do is add Organic material such as peat moss. Next you want to add fertilizer the best fertilizer is equal strength such as 10-10-10 which is a mild fertilizer that will work for most vegetables. You can then add lime to your soil to reduce the acidity and help with clay based soil. Lime is not always necessary but it will not hurt in moderate amounts.
Once the soil has been prepared and is loose and rich to a depth of about 6 to 8 inches you can water and then allow the soil to rest for two weeks before planting.
Final Note
Removing all of the weeds and old plants first will give your garden a good chance for the new season. If you know what planet were grown last year you should plant ones from another family this year to reduce the chance of blight and diseases.