[DD.]

Just hope that it's not Mare's Tail that springs up!

Not too late to sow peas, but beware the mildew!

[diospyros]

My belief - soil is alive it needs to be doing something.

[New shoot]

If you have cleared it and spread manure or compost, the soil is working.  The worms and other soil creatures will be busy dragging it all down and under the surface, lots will be happening

I do use part of my plot for follow on winter crops - leeks and brassicas are going in where spuds are coming out at the moment - but I vary where I do this each year.  The empty bits get a bit of R&R and as much compost as I can get them.  I see it as money in the bank for crops next year 

[sunshineband]

Exactly, New Shoot 

Soil is alive without doubt, and it needs to stay like that if it is to do its job properly

[DD.]

Thirded.

It's doing a lot that you can't see. Whilst it's sitting there doing "nothing" it's quietly breathing in the most abundant element in the atmosphere - nitrogen. I don't think you need to be told about its importance in growing. Microscopic nitrogen fixing bacteria re at work converting this free nitrogen into nitrates. All without you having to lift a finger!

[bravemurphy]

What about grass that is in the ground 365 days.

[New shoot]

Grass will grow in the poorest, most impoverished soil and be fine.  Not lush and green like a pampered lawn, but OK.

We're talking about keeping plot soil rich and fertile to produce the best crops we can 

[beesrus]

Beds that are emptied early, like onions, are perfect timing for green manures, especially if you want to drag even more nitrogen out of the air and into the soil. Dobies do a quick Summer fix mixture that only takes 10 weeks to do it's thing before being cut and dug in, and in my experience Tares doesn't take much longer. Apparently the nitrogen capture is far more efficient this time of year than into the colder weather.
My fast emptying onion, garlic, broad bean and Summer cabbage beds will be getting their now normal Tares treatment, with the other later beds getting a good dollop of cow manure as and when the crops come up October to December.
I think we all know these days that bare plots over Winter is not a good idea and is the perfect opportunity for topping up the batteries.

[mumofstig]

I think we all know these days that bare plots over Winter is not a good idea

do we? I think it's something that is still debatable and depends on your soil whether it is better being covered or dug and left open to the elements.

[beesrus]

I don't think we disagree that much MOS. As I was writing I thought my words could be misunderstood. 
By "bare plots", I mean plots without manure crops and mulches on them, that can leech a lot of goodness during the Winter. I always leave my plot open to the elements apart from plastic as a quick odd bed warmer in the Spring. I meant I "cover" with manures of one sort or other.  In my experience, there is all the difference in the world in the next growing season, fertility and structure wise, in using the Autumn/Winter to manure rather than doing nothing to the plot.
I don't have experience of very heavy clay soil, so maybe people with such soils do it differently.

[crh75]

Heavy clay soils benefit greatly from being left over winter.  Green manures and farm yard manures stop the freeze/thaw action working.

[JayG]

It's a waste of time manuring very sandy soils like mine in autumn or winter, either spread on top or dug in - it just gets washed through along with any nutrients it may have contained. 

Don't think such soils are really suitable for green manuring either - there aren't many nutrients left at the end of summer to capture and 'lock in', although I suppose the leguminous types may be a bit more useful than others as far as nitrogen is concerned.

[mumofstig]

See what I mean beesrus 

[beesrus]

I certainly do MOS. I will never speak for ALL people again... it's a minefield out there. 
I've had several types of soil in my time, but never sandy or heavy clay. Autumnal manures is the way forward for most on our site with our boring neutral average loamy stuff.
I once had a garden full of shillet and builders rubble, that wasn't very pleasant. I think I'd have to lock myself away in a darkened room if I had to deal with the horrors I hear clay causes people. 

[New shoot]

I have clay soil on the plot and its not so bad, but it really does need a lot of work at first to get it right.  Not as much as builder's rubble, which would have me running for the hills, but enough to keep you fit alright   After years of my routine of composting everything I can and digging this in, my soil is much better 

It still has its moments of just being a sticky wet mess or baked hard as iron.  You learn to stay off it at those times.  It does hang onto moisture and nutrients well though.  I still can't get carrots to grow on it, but what it does grow, it grows well