My little lady and I finally got out of apartment living to buy a
little condo with about 500 square feet of grass that we'd like to
turn into a vedgie garden. So.. .I went out and got a shovel, a hoe
and a pickaxe. We weeded out what wasn't grass and set to work
breaking up the sod.

Now, we live in Hawaii so the sod is thick, thick, thick. So thick,
in fact, when I pull a chunk out and examine the cross-section, it's
hard to decide where grass+air ends and roots+soil starts. It's
coming up like carpet.

How do I break this up to be ready for vedgies?

Thanks in advance.