Some onions are bi-annual. Other onions are fast-maturing perennials and produce "topsets", instead of seeds. These are called Egyptian Onions.

Some other relatively slow-maturing fruit and vegetable plants that I can think of include:

*Brambles (Blackberry, raspberry, bababerry, boysenberry, etc.) [approx. 3 years from seed to fruit)
*Some alliums (Onion, garlic, scallions, chives, etc.)
*Some carrots
*Asparagus
*Kiwi and Arctic Kiwi/Hardy Kiwi [kiwi- approx. 3-6 years from seed to fruit] [Arctic Kiwi/Hardy Kiwi - approx. 3-9 years from seed to fruit]
*Grapes [Approx. 3 years to from seed to fruit]
*Fruit trees/shrubs (apple, plum, wild plum, pear, nectarine, peach, jujube, pomegranate, etc.) [Approx. 1-3 years to fruit from nursery-bought trees/shrubs]
*Banana "Tree" Plant (some can be bought so that they won't fruit for 2-3 years)
etc...

Really a good question for you extention office or search your university website for your local conditions I would think your winters are not cold enough to kill some things?

You might consider rye its incrediblly cheap at the feed mill and you can run your lawn mower over it before it goes to seed I hit mine with round-up a week before I tilled this spring not a weed in sight in that section

Didn't you have trouble tilling the rye? My experience and others' has been that it forms a tough, dense sod which fouls up the tiller tines.

Jim

Rye is hard on tillers. But if one is trying to build soil, especially in a new unknown quality location, it's hard to beat.
Let it get to the beard stage. Depending on when you plant and winter severity, it could attain 5'.
Knock it all down with a weed whacker or scythe. Cover all that with compost, stall cleanings (no wood bedding), grass clippings,etc. Essentially mulch to prevent re-growth. Any survivors, either weed whack or pull roots.
I've heard from several university trained farmers that a grasses' root length equals what you see above ground.
You could do a similar thing with winter radish, but rye won't stink when it rots, or less,if it does.(never noticed)
This treatment won't get you much nitrogen but will establish organic matter and loosen soil without much attention or labor.
I'm assuming you would let this lie fallow. Don't plant into it before a couple weeks pass.

There are quite a number of cover crops and I think people plant what works ( grows ) best for them or plant for a specific purpose ( ie Legumes for N fixing etc )

If I understood your explanation and you may not be planting vegetables for 2 more seasons ( 2011 ? ) then consider Alfalfa which will develop deep roots if grown 2 full seasons. Alfalfa will also improve soil if you plan to plant next year too.

Buckwheat grows quick but needs several plantings a year in your zone.

Oilseed raddish is another, both buckwheat and Oilseed radish can go to seed rather quickly though so you may want to watch out for that.

I agree you should also ask what your local extension agent recommends too.

Jimster it was a little hard to till with my 5 hp troy built a few passes took care of it where nessasary

The 50 hp kubota had no problem pulverizing the rest

First off, thanks for all the suggestions. I will be contacting my local extension services.

I do plan on planting next year on this area. Actually I may see about doing a rotation, but not sure how I will be doing that yet.

You might consider dutch clover. It stays short, can be mowed, used as a living mulch, easy to till in.