Starting new garden area

So I have just started a new garden area in which I lightly discard the area and planted a cover crop over the whole area. My initial plan was to build my raised beds and let the crop grow before I add the final soil.

I planned to let crop grow then chop and cover it with cardboard. Then add old wood and leaves before adding my soil mix.

Now that I think about it I wondering if it wouldn’t be better to add all the wood, leaves, soil, etc and then in the beds replant the cover crop. The native dirt is pretty terrible.

In the pathways where cover is planted I will cut it short and use for ammending the beds and cover with wood chips.

What say you? Fill beds now and replant cover directly or let it grow in the bottoms and then cover.

Any and all thoughts and ideas much appreciated.

Joe

Why not do both?

Your cover crops will put roots in the dirt, and create channels for water infiltration. Then wherever you build up, your next cover will be able to send roots even deeper!

Hi Joe,
I agree, you might want to do both... but I will caution covering the cover crop too deeply. Composting in place, or lasagna gardening as some people call, is great. Sometimes people will put down cover crop or some sort of compostable material, and then cover it with soil or compost and plant in that layer. While you can do this, burying the material instead of simply putting it on top can take longer to break down and can result in nutrient availability getting out of wack for a little while. If you just pile it on top, I think you will be fine.