I live in NW Florida, where the soil is sandy, salty, devoid of minerals and nutrients and won’t hold moisture more than two days.
To get veggies or grass to grow is a constant feeding and watering.
Yet weeds prosper here without doing anything at all. They will grow in bare sandy spots that have no organic material, not one ounce of fertilizer and no water.
If science ever can figure out why this is and can make veggies do the same we will be in heaven................
There have been some amazing strides in growing food where once you couldn’t. And also - Hydroponics! I had a customer who would buy seed from me, and she once brought me this amazingly HUGE head of leaf lettuce that she had grown hydroponically. Talapia fish below, lettuces above. It was simply amazing. And, right in line with a healthy Asian diet!
But, you’re right - we either need to find a use for ALL weeds, or we need to find a way for veggies to LIKE the barren wastelands where weeds thrive.
Other than that, the best you can do is build raised beds or start collecting a lot of sturdy, well-draining 5-gallon pots. :)
planting straight into the ground has never really worked because of the trifecta of bad karma:deer, semi arid conditions, and poor soil...
raised beds is what has given us a fantastic garden this year...hub build out of free pallets....2-3 feet high, filled with pine cones and old wood and whatever soil I had plus peat moss and compost....
we were able to keep up the watering despite terribly hot , dry days because we have a great aquifer in this area....
so don't give up....if you can get a couple of raised beds...mulch well...it'll retain the water...