Hello Ferrygirl, you have a big job on, made more difficult by the timing as the weeds could have been mulched over the whole patch during winter, but not now with spears pushing through.
So you need to keep going to remove larger ones and I would use a trowel to remove the most obvious couch. It won’t look perfect… but then spread your older manure (although some weeds, better than fresh), removing all bindweed for sure. The manure will soon create an easier surface for weeding and you will get there but its a year of endeavour first.