mulching over winter

[Alison]

I have had a really busy year and the garden has oh-so-suffered
Last year the beds which had been left fallow over the winter were in a pretty poor state by spring, as I had dug and rotovated them in the autumn without sowing anything in them, and they were cracked and cement-like by March (heavy red clay). So this year I had meant to rake and/or rotavate in late summer and then sow green manure but haven't, and I still don't have the time to do it, as I am busy dealing with crops of apples, pears, beans etc.
Instead, I am protecting the beds the lazy way by covering them with veggy gubbins. So I have taken out the sweetcorn plants and left them lying across the top of the bed. I have also put pulled-up weeds / dead cabbage leaves / finished squash and courgette plants / bean haulms etc all over the beds where the potatoes were. Later this year I will get my SO (Significant Other - do people use this abbreviation in this forum?? ) to help me spread heavy black plastic over the whole lot and see what sort of result I get in the spring when I take the plastic off! Probably a total disaster area, but I thought it would be better than the alternative, which is leaving the beds to be beaten down again. Anyway, I thought it was worth a try!
Alison.

[Ian F]

Alison,

I would not be too concerned about a disaster in spring. I garden on heavy clay, and have used black plastic as a mulch for a number of years when I cannot get hold of organic material.

The soil gets a little compacted, but is easily tickled up with a fork in spring. As an added bonus, the soil will be drier and warmer as well.

So it may not be as good as mulching with organic matter, but it is better than nothing, and you will still get most of the benefit of the autumn digging in the spring.

[Jenny Green]

I should think you'll get a reasonable result if you don't walk on the beds at all. The old boys will tell you you should turn up huge clods of earth for the frost to break down into a fine tilth for next year. But I had an clayey allotment and found the soil in my beds was fine because I hadn't compacted it in the year by walking on it.
I would just make sure you wait until after a heavy shower of rain before covering the ground over. That'll give a nice moist environment for the worms, slugs and snails to live in (be prepared for slug & snail bonanza in the spring!)