What is the best way to keep weeds down in the vegetable garden?

My 2 adult daughters moved to a new house with a vegetable garden. The weeds are trying to take over. What would be the best thing to lay between the rows to keep the weeds from growing.

I like a thick layer of newspapers (which is very economical) with a couple of inches of cypress mulch on top. They can all be tilled under each year.

FIRST, weed the garden
SECOND, apply grass clippings (don't worry about weed seeds)
THIRD, apply grass clippings every month or so (when you start to see weeds coming through)
and FOURTH till in the grass clippings at seasons end to put organic matter in your soil

Happy Gardening

For now lay newspaper down liberally between rows and lay straw on top of that also liberally. And water regularly. This will keep the weeds at bay somewhat. In future this is what I recommend. I till the garden. Then I cover it with black plastic. Take a soup can, sharpen the end and cut circular holes wherever you wish to plant corn, beans, cabbage, and any vegetable that can be planted independently. The rest like carrots, peas, lettuce. etc. cut a slit in the plastic and plant the seeds in these rows. Anchor the plastic down with rocks or anything that is available so the winds down blow away the plastic. You will find that the black plastic is very beneficial to retain heat and moisture that is necessary for the plants and it does keep the weeds to a minimum. Place fertilizer into the rows or circles that will be accepting the seeds or plants before planting or placing the seeds. I use store bought chicken manure sparingly in each hole before I place the plant in it. (mix it well with existing soil) and the same goes for the rows. This I'm sure you will find very satisfactory and easy to maintain your garden.
The only drawback is that you have to water the plants with hose to each plant. Sprinkler will work but it leaves a lot of water that is on the surface.
Happy planting

Many things will help: use old carpetting cut in strips, with the backing facing up; approx. 10 layers of newspaper; sawdust can work as well as many of the natural wood mulches. I don't have a very big garden (5' x 10') and I use hampster bedding (I get it at the grocery store!) because it is light, all natural pine, and eventually breaks down providing nutrient for plants. I also coat my garden with layers of newspaper, hamster bedding and leaves in the fall.

Stand on them !

Just lay down weed block. MAKE SURE YOU PUT IT UP ON THE CORRECT SIDE!

To cover the black lay down some mulch. It helps the plants retain moisture.

You will still get weeds, but there will be a substantial difference.

Now matter what you put down, you still have to weed. Make sure that all the weeds are gone before you plant, then MULCH!!! At least three inches. Mulch before you plant seedlings and move the mulch to make the hole. Of course you move it back after. If you're starting with seeds, mulch everything but the seed rows, then plant your seeds. When they are about 3 inches tall thin the planst to the desired spacing then MULCH!

lowes makes a weed preventable stuff u put down before u have a garden it helps alot it's like a avisisble net to stop the weeds to grow

My solution was to not plant a garden the first year I moved into my home and spray the whole garden twice that summer with a product to kill the weeds such as Round Up. The soil was fine by spring to plant and I had very few weeds left to come up and they were easy to control by just pulling them and discarding.

When you weed a garden do not just pull and drop them back into the garden as even the pulled weeds can go to seed making 3x as much work for your self. Just tuck the pulled weeds into a garbage bag and toss them or take them down to the local composting pile after you have them pulled.

I have the same problem! My eventual goal is to weed and weed and weed so that there are hardly and more seeds left to germinate, but a shorter term plan is to mulch. Just get rid of current weeds, then put mulch around. For different types of mulch, see link below.

Also! There is a technique of "living mulch". Plant your vegetables close together so that the space underneath is shady and more difficult for weeds to grow.