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Need advice on Sodium Chlorate

I'd appreciate some advice on weed control.
This year I got a patch a little late to fully prepare.
It was 4 foot high in weeds all over.
I cleared about 1/2 of the 275 square yards ready for 4 plants.
These aren't doing very well, and a soil test last week revealed that
the nitrogen content was very low and the soil was very alkaline.
I scattered ammonium sulphate all around the place in a chemical frenzy.
Was that a good move or not ?  Too late to make a significant difference
this year ?  I've been using 10-15-10 Miracle Gro every week, but
performance is still poor.
(Next year I plan to dig in a load of horse manure in the spring)

My main question is:
Every week I've been spraying the unused 1/2 of my patch with Round Up
or Weedol weed killer.  Do you have these names in the US ?  (If not,
they're the type that you spray on the foliage and it goes down & kills
the roots - supposedly safe to spray between crops).
About one week later, I go to the patch and weeds are still springing up
all over the place.  This happens every week.  I want to keep this 1/2
weed free ready to rotavate next spring so I can use the whole patch for
the pumpkins.
The question is, if I use something more substantial now, like sodium
chlorate, will it be OK to grow AGs on that soil next year ?  Some
packaging sais not to plant for 6 months, others say 12 months.  What
effect does this chemical have ?
Does this mean I shouldn't plant because the fruit will be dangerous to
eat (if so, I don't care, I'm not going to eat them !) Or will the plant
performance be poor because some of the chemical will still be in the
soil ?

Sorry to post such a dull question at a time when you're all getting
excited about breaking the 100+inch mark, but I'd really appreciate some
advice from the experts.

Many thanks.

Nick Pearce
Cheltenham, UK
ngpearce@rmplc.co.uk
http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/ngpearce/
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