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When I lived nearer to town I would take all the used grounds from one of the cafes. I never experienced any problem at all. The compost pile, which was a cool one, was always full of worms. If I left a bag of grounds on the ground for a few weeks I invariably found that worms had invaded it if was moist enough. If I had too many grounds for the compost pile I would simply sprinkle them directly on the garden, around plants. Never a lack of worms.
I can’t comment on their effect on microbial life but I am under the impression that a good worm population goes hand in hand with a good microbial population.I’ve left it for as little as two months in late spring/early summer and had pretty good results. Exceptions are the running grasses like couch. To deal with those, I dig an edge around the area covered, at the time of covering, to sever the stolons/rhizomes of the runners so they can’t continue to feed the part of the plant under the tarp. Perennials like dandelions aren’t killed off of course but they can be dealt with one at a time once you’re growing stuff. Just don’t let any of them set seed.
I agree with earthnut.
I’ve used weed control fabric, plastic sheeting and tarps over the years to kill off grass in areas I want to grow vegies in. Never had any issues, even in areas where I’ve left it place for a full year. Under plastic and tarps the soil does dry out over time, at least where I live. When I uncover it, I either water it thoroughly then cover with mulch and plant it out or I mulch it and wait for good rain before planting.
A way to be confident that life is returning is to add a bit of good homemade compost around each plant or on top of each seed.Seems like your instincts kicked in and made you suspicious about putting plastic down first, quite right too. I would bite the bullet and remove it asap. This time next year you’ll have a beautiful garden and all this will be a distant memory.
I’m in Australia so the varieties available may not be the same but just in case …
A favourite is Summer Harvest, though I grow it all year round. It forms a loose heart but I just harvest leaves as needed. Many of the oak leaf types have done well, especially Royal Oak. A soft, buttery lettuce that has done well is Laitue de Trémont. Salad Bowl Green is a great producer.I practice no-dig with hay, mostly, sometimes woodchips, as the mulch cover. It is too hot and dry here to use compost as the covering. I’ve tried that more than once and it simply isn’t successful here. Compost, when I have any, is always covered with hay.
My preferred cover is woodchip but it’s not easy to access where I am and is getting more expensive each year. Too many people have seen the Back to Eden movie! I have ready access to hay so that’s what I end up using mostly. I love the no-dig approach and would never consider going back. Quite apart from anything else, I’m simply getting too old to be digging garden beds!
If it were me, I’d simply cut down the weeds, cover with hay and take it from there. Good luck with whatever approach you choose.