So we dug up the lawn, rototiller it several times (raking between passes) to get more roots (mostly weeds) up. What I'm wondering is about the soil. Our subdivision is about 15 years old, and what is the soil like after having lawn (with fertilizers and sprays) put on it for so long? I like to garden with chemicals, and the thought of eating something that grows in the same dirt that once was lawn is hard for me to swallow. Am I being overly cautious or does anyone have any other recommendations to do before we plant our veggies?

Thanks--shel

My father did this years ago with no problem. After removing the lawn, we tilled daily for 2 weeks. He used a pesticide (called VAPAM at the time) to eliminate the insects that still remain in the ground & would attack the vegetables. He sprayed the insecticide to saturate the dirt then I tilled. The flat soft dirt was then made into into trenches & rows using a hoe. Seeds & bulbs were planted in the rows then daily watered with no fertilizer nor pesticides. Afterward, he was giving away collards, kale, onions, etc. to relatives, neighbors and anyone else who would take this crop off his hands. He was in his late 70's at the time (I just came by to help). He really enjoyed making that garden & eating food that he had grown. It never bothered me to eat food from the ground that had been my childhood playground.

I have seen what they use for fillers in subdivisions. Bricks, cement, anything that could be buried and not carted away. So I wouldn't necessarily want to plant a veg garden (if that is what you intended) without putting down a lot of good top soil first. An expensive proposition nowadays.

I live in a semi rural area so don't have that problem. But I have lived in sub divisions and always used the raised veg gardens in the Japanese style, that is untreated square cut lengths ( think they care called 4 x 4) of wood built up to about 2 feet high and filled with good soil, each paddock is about l0 ft. by five and I have four of them. I use this method now at my present home.

This may not be your cup of tea, but I would suggest a lot of good top soil to start, for your garden.

Often yards have less than adaquate soil I would have the soil tested to see what it lacks. My garden was once a yard but before that it was pasture land that was fertilized often