Hello, I am new to gardening. I am in my first house and want to start a vegetable garden. The previous owners let everything overgrow. There is a large area to put a garden, but it has many things growing in it, plants, vines, small trees. It is very overgrown. What would be the best way to clean it up and get it ready for planting. I have started with a pitchfork and shovel, trying to take out what I can, but there are some very deep roots. Should it be tilled mechanically, or just dig out what I can? Thanks for your suggestions!
My parents would mechanically till our veggie garden in Manitoba to prepare it in the spring, and they'd do that without having to worry about overgrown non-desired plants. The organic layer of soils are generally so deep in Manitoba that you don't have to worry about some of the drawbacks of mechanical tilling - unless you live in an area with Red River clay!
It sounds to me like you have made a good start. I would dig out and / or pull out all the plants the best you can. If some of the vine and tree roots stay in the ground I wouldn't worry too much about it this year. Some of them may send up shoots (which you can cut off) but others may just stay in the ground and do nothing. Make sure that you remove any weeds that have a tap root like dandelions, just digging them up is no guarantee they will die. You should probably apply some vegetable garden fertilizer. Since the area was not looked after the soil is probably depleted in nutrients. Any leaves that are there can be dug in (no need to rake it up) to add some organic material back to the soil and if you have any compost a good layer of that dug in will help too. You will probably have quite a crop of weeds (seeds from last season's growth) which will enjoy the nice open space you have created - keep on top of them by pulling or cultivating on a sunny day. This will probably be the worst year for your new garden as you try and get it under control but the subsequent years it will get better and better. :o)