The price of food being what it is, I decided to put in a home garden. But, digging up sod just plain sucks. I did some, and I am putting that to use in a compost pile for next year. But I knew there had to be an easier way.
So, here is what I did. I had some contractor-grade trashbags and split them on the sides so they open up into one sheet. These I placed on the sod and put weight on the edges and corners to hold them in place, in order to kill the grass and leave bare soil. Obviously, a tarp or other plastic sheeting would work too, but I didn't have a tarp.
I guess I only had to wait 2-3 weeks for that to take effect. Probably closer to 3 weeks.
In the meantime, I had already seedlings growing. Those I grew in small plastic cups, which also happened to match the diameter of a small auger I had that is used with a cordless drill to dig the holes for planting. It makes it real easy to just empty the cups into a nice hole of the same size.
I didn't cultivate the soil, I just planted directly into the cleared area.
Also using well ventilated #10 cans for tomatoes and peppers. They seem to be doing well. And if people can use 2 liter soda bottles and get a crop, I'll just have to water them every day.
And, a pack of seeds goes a long way.