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I want to smother out as many weeds as possible and provide some organic matter to turn under in the fall.
I will hand sew it into loose soil.
What is your suggested crop/plant?

Any cover crop planted now would have to contend with hot and dry weather, which is going to eliminate a lot of them. I'd call my local county agent and see what they say. Personally, I've never heard of anyone sowing a cover crop this time of the year to turn under in the fall. When I have a fallow garden spot, I keep it sprayed throughout the summer with Roundup to keep the weeds down.

I mulch entire garden with straw to keep moisture in and weeds from growing. In fall I Rototill it in.

I've seen the local Mennonites and Amish use old hay as a mulch, using layers of it as a weed barrier on their entire garden. I use wheat straw as a mulch around my tomatoes. The problem I've see out of this, is that you sometimes can bring in new weed seeds that might be a problem to deal with. I have also used a lot of the woven fabric as a weed barrier, laying it between the rows.

I usually plow or chisel my garden every fall, as it helps give me an early start on planting. I see the Mennonites here planting a cover crop, anything from a cereal grain to a mix of legumes, on their garden in the fall, and then plowing it under in the spring. That would be great if the weather cooperated, and you could plow the crop under before it got too big.

I have stuck with my method because by plowing in the fall, it lets me plant early, which lets me grow crops that prefer cooler weather, such as cabbage, broccoli, green peas, onions, potatoes. But, there are many ways to do a garden, and we all have our preferences.

Get as many big pieces of cardboard as you can find. Cover it all over with composted straw (I use the litter from the chicken yard and coop), or old hay. if you have enough you can even put 4" or so of straw/hay under the cardboard before you put some on top. Weed problem mostly fixed. Anything that does come up, usually individual plants, can be easily pulled by hand.

I have used that method straight on the ground but it works exceptionally well in beds. I just cut a whole for the starts, or a slit for stuff sowed direct, plant, and pull the straw back over..

here's a bed of taters I did with that method. I cut about a 4" square hole in the cardboard, with 4" of compost under that, put in the seed tater, put 4" more straw over that. taters came right up through it.



couple of them plants had the tops burned in a late frost. Even covered, I think it got down to 27F or so. Couple of weeks ago.

Here's what they look like a few days ago. The white stuff is snow and hail from the 7th of June. It frosted again this past Wed and Thurs morning. Plants handled it pretty good this time, only a few "burned" leaves on top. Plants are actually bigger than the look as I've piled on more compost as they grow.



This area I've just cleared and mostly leveled will likely just get a few bales of cheap straw or if I can find a rancher with some spoiled hay I'll use that and hope to get 4" or so over it. It's probably 40' or so square and I don't have a source for that much cardboard yet. I'll be looking though.



The good thing about cardboard and straw, it rots right back into the ground and adds organic matter to your dirt. And it makes it really easy to deal with weeds without spraying or tilling or hoeing. I hate weeds..............and extra work.

Good luck with whatever you choose.