I've been doing lasagna on the rest. Still only good drainage the first few inches and then puddles. I think I should till or double dig but I'm worried about the bathtub effect, too.

I use blackeyed peas from the grocery; have been harvesting for the last week or more.

I highly recommend buckwheat and winter rye as cover crops for soil improvement. I buy 10 lbs of buckwheat and 5 lbs of rye each year. I plant buckwheat between the rows of squash, and till it in before the squash plants run. I plant winter rye in September after the garden season ends, and till it in the following spring.

I get the seed from my local feed and grain dealer. Buckwheat is $0.45/lb, and rye is $0.65/lb. Inexpensive fertilizer, and it does wonders for the soil.

I just had the same idea, so this thread is perfect, thanks. Just 8 years (almost) went by ;)

Here's hoping your plans all worked. I had a similar situation, which I'm writing about over on the soil section.

Instead of tilling I have been using chop, drop, and cover with straw as a mulch.

I'm thinking of using Cow Peas (Vigna unguiculata) as a Fall Cover, in the gaps between my tillage radish covers. Seeding in Oct over 1 here in Northern Virginia, and then letting the Winter frost do the kill, followed by straw in the early spring before last frost.

I plant year around in S.C.

However your plan seem like a good one to me, turnips& beets, in the late Fall will brake up some of the bottom pan for a few inches.