1.) Remove the old landscape fabric.
2.) Pull all the weeds by hand.
3.) If you have $20, go to a local store and buy $20 worth of rotted manure in bags (or get a truckload from your local horse farmer for free) and put it on top of the old soil. Dig in gently – it is not necessary for you to "plow under" the soil as it does more damage to the microbial action which would improve the soil, so be gentle.
4.) Lay a thick layer of black and white newspaper down. It helps to wet it if it is a windy day. Get it from your neighbors recycling bins for FREE! This lasts over a year and goes a long way in blocking the existing weed seeds from regrowing.
5.) Go over to the city mulch pile and pick up the free mulch they provide – it should be just fine and free from most diseases if it’s been sitting in the pile a while as the heat generated by the rotting wood kills seeds and disease. Add 4" of FREE mulch to the area, being careful not to smother any plants that are currently existing - leave an area of about an inch around the base of existing plants.
6.) Do this all now before the cold snap happens, because sometimes adding an extra layer of mulch after the freeze hits will warm up the ground area and the rest of the plant will freeze from air exposure. Now is the weekend!