Using coppice rotation to grow annual crops

Has anyone tried this?

I'm just in the process of cutting my trees for firewood. These are broadleaved trees - mostly alder. They grow back multistemmed and produce more wood more quickly the next time. here is my project thread on my tree field, Here is a thread introducing the procedure of coppicing.
My trees I am cutting for the first time. I have noticed that the grass underneath is now being shaded out. It's not quite a woodland soil - but the leaves and twigs are starting to build up.
It occurs to me that I could use the pattern of succession of the coppicing to create a clear area each year to sow with annuals in a no-dig way:
The trees shade out the undergrowth -> I cut them -> Then seeds can be sown into the clear soil and raked in -> They grow and are harvested as the trees grow around them -> I move onto another area the following year....

I can't see it working with plants that require much digging to harvest, because the tree roots would get disturbed, but salads, brassica, peas and beans might all be possibilities. I'm wondering what the downsides might be and if anyone has actually done it.

Squash!

Please keep us updated on how this idea plays out, it's a fabulous concept. I think I will poke some seeds into my black locust coppices this spring and see how it goes.

Hi Ezra - Squash might indeed be ideal in some climates! Mine is too cool in summer unfortunately, for it to do well.
As I said I'm cutting this coppice for the first time, so I'm thinking of sowing a few annuals and some perennial ground cover plants at the same time to create a longer term harvest. Swede (Rutabaga) grows very well for me I have discovered, and that can form a dense leaf cover that will help suppress the grass for at least one season. Then plants like Sweet cicely (Myhrris odorata) and Good King Henry also won't mind some shade longer term.

I love this idea.

I think this mimics clear cutting to make forest garden, without the downsides.
I would be inclined to build a raised bed and fill it with leaves from nearby, to make potatoes and such a viable choice.

William Bronson wrote:I would be inclined to build a raised bed and fill it with leaves from nearby, to make potatoes and such a viable choice.

Perhaps I will try this - just to prove I can! I'm probably a bit short of potatoes this year though so maybe next year...Hey it could make an excellent Gamcod garden!

I think the ideal annual would be vining plants like peas , beans, cucumbers to grow up the branches the coppice will produce in abundance

Jeff Marchand wrote:I think the ideal annual would be vining plants like peas , beans, cucumbers to grow up the branches the coppice will produce in abundance

In my climate I don't get more than about 24 inches growth on the alder the first year - there tends to be more the second year as the tree decides on which  branches to put the growth into. I could use the cut stems from the coppice to support climbing plants in the first year though. At the moment I'm using some in my natural farming area where I am learning to grow annual crops here, but there are always more than I need for those and kindling.
It is good to use the third dimension to stack plants in space, where possible. Maybe there might be an opportunity to have a second or third year using the regrowth before the trees make too much shade again? This is another limiting factor for me, however may be a benefit in a hotter climate perhaps.

 The climbing plants would be ideal in situations where the trees have been pollarded rather than coppiced.
I wonder, would propagating cane fruits into the coppiced spaces be worthwhile?