This is my second year having a plot at a local garden. Last year went pretty terribly actually. I planted lots of things, but I didn't harvest much. In Oregon, you need to fight constantly against the weeds and for me it was a losing battle. This year, I plan to try some new techniques to get a good yield while keeping the weeds down.
The first trick is meticulously going through your soil removing any possible weeds. This is especially true for grass. Last year I just tilled it in and it came back, but this year, I have no grass at all and any roots or sprouts I see, I remove.
Second trick is growing something instead of weeds. Weeds grow where the soil is bare. Planting crops means less room for weeds. This year I'm only growing easy stuff. Potatoes, beans and peppers. The more I can fill in my plot with plants the less weeds I need to fight.
The last trick is mulching. I learned this too late last year. Once your crop is up, mulching the soil prevents anything else from growing. I've got a big pile of leaves to do this with this year.
I'll update on how my battle with the weeds turns out.
Cheers,
Curtis