Wood chips or cover crop?

I left 48” strips of turf between the chip beds and the fence in my young food forest. I always though I’d eventually expand the chip bed to the fence line eventually. But an alternative idea has occurred to me: Replace those grass strips with a cover crop like clover and then two or three times per season, mow that down with the mower chute aimed at the existing chip bed. So essentially using clover to replace weedy turf AND act as a source of regenerating biomass that feeds into the neighboring chip beds.

I still have room to expand the chip beds the other direction, so I do not NEED these grass strips to be chipped… but chipping them would be contributing to the soil in its own way. What do you think, which is better? Any favorite perennial clovers for this purpose? I already have red and white growing on the property and both do well.

I really like your idea to mow a cover crop into your chips. Plus it's a flexible plan. If you notice that the chips are out preforming the cover crop areas, or visa versa, you can expand either into the other. If that sentence makes any sense, I don't know...

I too have the beginnings of a food forest with chips as ground cover primarily. I was going to add more ground cover/tillage but I am pretty caught up with other, less fun, chores so it will have to wait until next year probably. Therefor, I am very interested in your project. Please post reports and updates in the future!

I am a firm user of grass clippings as mulch material. Using a scythe for long grass and mower with catcher for short areas. And of course saving a step where the path will directly spray onto the bed as you propose.  On e benefit that you did not mention with a fence line strip is control of invasive roots from outside the fence. The mower is a form of cop and  drop for maintaining a food forest. The brambles in the hedge row protected the plum trees until they got tall enough so the deer just keep them pruned up high enough to walk through or ride the lawnmower through to maintain them. I allow the areas with clover and vetch to set seed and mow it just before it releases the seed and spread that on where the poor grass has been mowed short and it seeds well.