Matt writes:

Don’t know why I never thought to plant dried beans and peas to be used as a cheap cover crop. Thanks @DavidTheGood for that.

Have some lentils, black beans, and black eyed peas rockin’. Check it!

You can grow beans, lentils, wheat, chick peas, buckwheat and all kinds of interesting things found in your local grocery store or in the bulk bins at an organic market.

Way cheaper than buying cover crop mixes for a small garden. Chop them down and plant into them and the roots and plants compost nicely into the ground and keep the soil ecology living and active.