Starting a patch from scratch

I would be interested to know how this went (or didn't), Scarlet. I've got a piece of grassland about 40' x 20' that I'm thinking of using for planting, probably veg but could be flowers as well but don't think I'm up to digging it over and it is likely full of couch, nettles and docks. I don't have access to masses of cardboard so was thinking of using grass cuttings as I can generate a lot of those. Not sure if that would be a success though as, when I mulched the greenhouse last year to go away for the week, field voles moved in and were uprooting the tomato plants and digging everywhere. I think beans, peas, broadbeans squash and courgettes could be planted through a mulch. Potatoes possibly in a second or subsequent year. Onions beetroot carrots might have to wait a bit.

Has anyone tried just using grass cuttings or do you think it could be problematic?