What if I don’t plant right away?

For the past two years I’ve made hugelkultur’s right through the coldest part of the winter. The ones I finish in late fall get a hefty amount of rye or winter pea seed. But now and going forward I don’t plant anything. I simply cover with shredded leaves and wait until spring.
The reason I’ve started doing this is the clay on my property. When dry, it turns to power and fills any cracks I may have left during construction. I also have exhausted my compost supply both years so clay and wood are my only two ingredients. Last spring I planted lettuce that did very well. Summer gets a good amount of cowpeas and fall gets winter peas for biomass and nitrogen.
I realize this is not best practice but I am curious as to what the community thinks.

Scott Stiller wrote:For the past two years I’ve made hugelkultur’s right through the coldest part of the winter. The ones I finish in late fall get a hefty amount of rye or winter pea seed. But now and going forward I don’t plant anything. I simply cover with shredded leaves and wait until spring.
The reason I’ve started doing this is the clay on my property. When dry, it turns to power and fills any cracks I may have left during construction. I also have exhausted my compost supply both years so clay and wood are my only two ingredients. Last spring I planted lettuce that did very well. Summer gets a good amount of cowpeas and fall gets winter peas for biomass and nitrogen.
I realize this is not best practice but I am curious as to what the community thinks.

Look into for fall planting Miyashige radishes for clay.  Plus another good cover crop with mass.  https://www.johnnyseeds.com/  p. 163 of 2021 catalog.

Thanks, will do!