Crop rotation question.

I'm planning for the fall/winter and was wondering which type of vegetables I should plant after the corn, green beans, and summer squash are done. I looked up a chart on Yankee Gardener website and it suggests tilling in compost and then plant a cover crop. Do I really need to plant a cover crop? Would edamame work as a cover crop? Are there other "edible" cover crops that I could try?

Maybe in your climate, but season wise edamame is a long season summer plant that competes with corn and beans. Rotation is a good idea if you have sufficient space. The basic purpose is to prevent disease buildup. Cover crops are to prevent erosion in the off season and to serve as a green manure crop. I would expect in your climate that you can have a winter garden. In a cold climate, grasses like rye , wheat etc are used to hold the sold in winter then turn under in spring as a green manure . Any time you have land lying fallow it is a good idea even in summer to plant a green maure crop. Popular summer choices are peas ( Vigna), buckwheat, Sudan Grass, clover, millet. Winter choices. rye, wheat, oats, hairy vetch, rape, daikon radish, gold mustards, Canada field peas (Pisum)
Here in Georgia, I follow summer crops like corn , beans squash, melons, peas with brassicas. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, kale, mustards, radishes (winter) rutabagas, turnips

Quyen - you might want to do a Google search for recommended cover crops for your particular area. Here in NC zone 7b it's red clover, but your needs could be different.

i am also interested in this sort of thing, I want to plant some stuff that I can eat over the winter, maybe lots of lettuces? they do well in the cold I thought? Cauliflower would be nice too. I am not sure what good cool season crops would be.

prettymess - here's a link to an extension service in your area

http://cesantaclara.ucdavis.edu/

It might be a good place to start looking for what will grow in your area.

I really like the idea of planting a cover crop but hairy vetch and red clover aren't practical for a small garden. What I need is an edible winter cover crop. And I think I found it at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange! It's a mix which contains Seven Top turnip, Squire kale, Red Russian kale, Southern Giant Curled mustard greens, and Tatsoi mustard greens. I would have no problem eating THESE vegetables.

Any thoughts on this mix?

Quyen -- I'm not sure it qualifies as a "cover crop" if you're going to harvest it, but what the heck, why not? If you can grow some sort of legume that you can harvest I would think it would be an added bonus, fixing nitrogen in the soil as well as something to eat. My zone is so far from yours I can't begin to imagine the possibilities...!

Thanks Honeybee! I will get a good amount of questions ready before I call so I don't ramble on the phone with them!