Sounds like a good plan ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Cover crop basics

For the rooting and nutrient contribution I would look at a red clover and hairy vetch mix. You can mow before seed and leave the mulch to return to soil. Till it under three weeks before planting or...

consider it as a living mulch. Clear the areas you need for seeding or transplant. You can continue to mow the living mulch and use that as mulch. Mowing also prevents the sun being blocked from your vegetables.

Good luck.

I've never tried a living mulch. My garden is not so monstrous there's room for a mower, and I always have enough trouble with getting to the weeds very close to the vegetable plants without harming the crop plants.

I could try it this winter -- I prefer to garden year round, but I suspect I am going to have to give up some time to let a "weed" cultivate my soil or me.

I feel like a broken record ... always recommending the same site - ROOT DEVELOPMENT - but it just seems to fit.

Beets & Swiss chard roots both extend 6 ft and almost that many laterally.

..snip..."Effect on Soil Structure.--Extensive, root systems like those of chard and beet must exert a pronounced effect upon soil structure. It seems that with the usual spacing of these plants, the soil would be thoroughly ramified with roots. Investigations on the influence of plant roots on the structure of the soil show that ...... But in compact soils roots may to a certain degree improve the structure and thus increase production. In compact stiff soil without granular structure, the loosening process is aided, to the benefit of plant growth, by the mechanical action of roots and by a strong modification of the moisture conditions. The beneficial combination of self-loosening and root action explains the frequent permanent improvement of the soil structure under the continued influence of roots, as in grasslands, 172 and also the prevention of the permanent puddling of the soil by rain. It has been found that a marked surface spreading of roots has a beneficial influence upon the penetration and movement of water in the soil. Water movement is much more rapid, although lateral percolation and loss of water through evaporation is retarded. Where the soil is occupied by plants throughout the year, the effects are most marked"

Here is a link that might be useful: Root development of vegetable crops

Thanks, borderbarb. I'm aware of the amazing depth of beta vulgaris roots, but I never thought of it as a tough pioneer plant. But if I am not growing it as a food crop, do I care if the main root gets stunted?

Beets grow well here in the late fall and overwinter, so it might be a really good choice.

Hey Borderbarb,
Please don't feel like a broken record,the service you provide with that link is awesome for anyone who comes to this forum... Thank You for your service ;-)

Soils become compacted due to loss of the organic matter that Ma Nature puts into the soil but that many people remove. Lack of organic matter allows the soils mineral particles to compress together which results in loss of entrained air, pore spaces between the soil particles, and then the soil cannot move water through. All soils need organic matter, to a point (20 percent in soils is approaching a bog soil) and that organic matter gets between the soil particles and seperates them so both air and water can move through that soil, and plants roots can also move around in search of the moisture and nutrients in the soil solution.