Do you mean that the ground is bare of all plant life except a few patches of weeds? You might need to do some earth work to make habitable pockets for plants to establish in the first place if that's the case.
If you can, though planting a cover crop is definitely a good idea. I've used purple clover before, and have seen wheat and barley used in conjunction with it. No reason not to obtain a yield you could eat

Comfrey is probably the single most useful plant to have around. It's pretty impossible to kill, though, so I wouldn't recommend blanketing large patches of ground. We usually plant it as a border plant and cut it back regularly to super-charge our
compost with.
Also, don't look at the weeds and think you need to wage a war. Dave Jacke basically equates weeds to pioneer species that are there to work the soil when other plants (like herbs, prairie grasses, etc) can't establish themselves. Dandelions have deep tap roots that bring nutrients up from the lower regions of the soil.
Is it too late in the season to be planting a cover crop on the whole land like that? Maybe you could cover it next spring? When next year were you planning to move there? FYI, I'm in SE Iowa, so our climates are probably nothing alike, but someone else here probably has suggestions for plants and planting times in your area.