This is our first year in this zone (5b - about 30 minutes SE of Albany, NY), first year at this property, and first time trying to have an in-ground garden. Previously we grew in raised beds in zone 7A.
There is an old communal plot out back next to a creek that has been under tarps for at least 9 months - the landlady is trying to smother out a very bad thistle problem. I peeled the tarps up today a bit to see what the soil is like and how bad the weed problem is..... well, I'm not a little discouraged. It looks like someone threw top soil on a gravel parking lot and tilled it all together! Then threw a 50lb bag of thistle seed all around to coat the entire thing. The landlady has a raised bed for tomatoes and whatever else, which is also curiously abundant with mixed in gravel.
My question is: how on earth should I go about figuring out this garden in order to plant anything? I don't know what could grow well in rocky soil, but I don't want to limit myself based on these conditions. Is there any way to get rid of these abundance of weeds (all of which are white and probably quite tired after being under tarps for half a year or more) and literally tons of gravel? I tried digging down to see if it was just the top layer, but there are so many rocks I can't even dig past a couple of inches without hitting a big rock. Is this perhaps an intentional mixing of rocks for drainage? The soil is quite wet (it hasn't rained in a few days), and it is next to a creek... maybe this is for drainage? Though I just can't see how much could grow well with SO much gravel.
Sorry this is long-winded... I was really looking forward to getting *something* in the ground this year and avoiding the (high for us) costs of having to container garden or build/fill a raised bed, but alas.... Any thoughts/help/experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!