That sounds like a plan... I set up soaker hose irrigation every year until this year, and next year I'm going to get some of that weed mat and go to town with it. This fall and winter I'll do some green manure crops and get a load of compost to till in before I cover it. Weeds have been just killing me, just like what
@Eutycus has been going thru. Seems like you blink your eyes and they're up to knee high! I wrecked my elbows a couple of years ago pulling weeds, so now that they're better, I really HATE pulling on any big weeds.
My garden is 42 x 80, fenced with high tension wire up to 9 feet, a 2' rabbit wire layer at the bottom, 2x4 wire up to 6 feet over the rabbit wire, and two hot strands that'll just about set you on fire if you come in contact with it. Critters haven't been a problem since I added the second strand between the outer strand and the 2x4 wire. Coons were climbing up and over the 2x4 layer and getting by the hot strand to wreck my corn until then. It looks sorta like a prison yard
I've thought about dividing it in half, putting a mesh roof over half and running chickens on that side.
Here's a picture from 2016 during much happier times, before the weeds overran me. I wanna get it back to something like this...
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