I don't use any hay, it's too full of seeds that turn into work. I just mound up the dirt, and then cover it with plastic. My neighbor does truck farming on a big scale, and he has a machine that installs the plastic bladder mulch. He never lets it run out of the plastic, so when the roll gets down to the end, he changes it, and gives me the remaining plastic. I install it by hand though.
I set the rows so I can use my tiller in between them to keep it pretty weed free, but after the vines get growing that process ends. I have to clean out the weeds near the plastic by hand. I'm pretty faithfull to that process until it gets late in the season, like now, and the weeds start to show up among the vines. Soon, I'll harvest what's left out there, and pull up everything and till it before winter sets in. It's supposed to freeze on Sat. so I'll most likely try to pick all the squash and pumpkins, along with a few watermelons that remain out there. I'll move the tarps to a different spot in the garden where I'll plant the tomatoes and peppers next year. I ususally rotate everything so I don't plant the same crop in the same space two years in a row.
