mountainman08

If you don't want to be a soil scientist you can still grow a decent foodplot, don't become discouraged. Corn and brassicas (turnips or rape) will grow in almost any soil. You won't make 200 bushels an acre for sure but for a small plot just throw down some lime and a few bags of fertilizer and it will grow. I don't use roundup, what I do is disc the area, then plow, then disc again and once more after spreading the lime and fertilizer. You can use a rototiller for the same thing it juts takes longer. If you really like exercise and back breaking work like the old days just use a shovel and turn over the sod in 12" squares until it is all turned over. After the area looks like a garden I take a ski pole and make holes for the corn about 2" deep in rows 30" apart and space the corn 6" per seed. Or pay a farmer to plant your corn. Just one per hole and then cover with your foot lightly- they will all sprout. Plant the corn when it's warm and the soil is warm, at least 65 degrees. Buy 10 pounds of field corn in bulk, treated, and that will keep you busy for a while and make a good size plot. One acre will feel nearly impossible to do by hand but it's not that hard once you commit a full weekend to it. Once the corn has sprouted rototill pretty shallow between the rows to kill any weeds. Repeat every week or so until the corn is knee high, then you want to fertilize again. After that the weeds won't matter but you can still till it for fun. I would plant some apple trees in that field, that will draw in the deer for years.