In article , ken cohen
writes
There was an article on this subject in this month's Gardening Which.
The idea was that instead of laying down black plastic sheeting/old
carpet or whatever on bare soil over the winter, you sow the ground to
grow a crop eg. mustard, which will cover the ground, prevents weeds,
nourish the soil, and then in February/March, you simply dig it into
the soil which will then be ready for sowing/planting whatever you
really want to grow.

Sounds like a good idea to me, but what do people think about it?

It's a good idea, but while it will crowd out annual weeds, it won't
prevent perennial weeds or the tougher annual weeds. So once you have
your bed sorted and free of difficult weeds, it's a good way to deal
with any times you're not planting crops in it. But it's not so good for
preparing new ground. Or so I would have thought.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm