Something fairly easy to seed would be annual Rye Grass. People use it to
seed over warm season grasses that go dormant in the winter here in the
south. It dies off eventually and then you till it in to add nitrogen to
the soil. Other cover crops that can also be used are hairy vetch,
buckwheat, clover, and alfalfa. Some people plant alfalfa and clover
between rows of corn because it improves soil fertility by "fixing"
nitrogen. This means that with the help of special bacteria in the soil,
their roots can change nitrogen gas from the air into nitrogen compounds
plant roots can use.

Another option would be to cover with a black plastic sheeting and pin it
down until ready to remove. Hardware stores should carry this. You can
mulch the area with grass clippings (got any neighbors who bag and get rid
of clippings?). Newspaper, leaves or pine needles could be used. All of
these mulches will slowly break down and you can till them in when ready.
If you want to try a cover crop, go to a local garden center/nursery and ask
for seeds for these. You probably won't find them in Home Depot or Lowe's.
You could also do a search on Burpee, Gurney's, or on Google for cover crop
seeds. Good luck.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"BRN" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We have about a 100' x 100' vegetable garden area that we will not be able
to plant for the next 1 or 2 years. It's a bigger area than we garden
because we had to cut the pace out in the woods.

Anyway, as I said, various other obligations have arisen that will prevent
us from using this garden. I would like to do something that is
relatively
low on maintenance that will prevent the area from getting overgrown with
weeds and returning back to the forest. I was thinking of some heavy
duty,
very large sheets of black plastic, but I am not sure where to get such
large sheets. Also though of planting with a cover plant of some type
(clover?) that might enrich the soil. Would prefer not to routinely spray
with something like Round-up, but if that's the best solution, then I
might
be persuaded.

Any suggestions?

TIA,

Bart