Greg: I always incorporate my covers into the soil; they decompose in about 30 days. If you are set against tilling, cut off the peas at ground level. This leaves the roots and nitrogen-bearing nodules (if any, at this season) in the soil, which is good. The vines are also nitrogen-rich, so I would compost them if you don't incorporate them.

Growing plants for compost is a time-honored practice -- see John Jeavons' books for recommended species. (Again, I would compost the foliage rather than use it as mulch because dead leaves are much more convenient and readily available for mulch.) I have never done it, but I would suspect alfalfa and comfrey would fit the bill because, within a 3-year ley for instance, they will dig deep and bring up lots of minerals from the sub-soil. Good luck, regards, Peter.

You can cut those peas and drop the stalks right in place as a mulch. Peas are one of those plants that if the stems is cut the plant dies. Of course having that on the soil will make your seed planting a bit more difficult since just running a seed planter over the soil won't be easy.
A plot growing organic matter that can be cut often could be something useful, but you would need to start with really good soil and plant a perennial grass such as maybe Alfalfa that would take several cuttings and still grow back.

Thanks to both of you for the advice & information. Very good stuff!

Not dead set against tilling, but with good soil tilth & health, it seems uneccesary. Unless needed to incorporate the green manure. If I can realize the green manure benefits through other methods (cutting & mulching/composting), I'd rather leave the roots & worms to do their work in peace. If the dozen or so shovels full I turned up are any indicator, they're doing a better job of it that I could with a spade & fork anyway.

I seed by hand, using a small trowel & dibble, so the winter pea remains shouldn't cause much trouble on that front. Raises another question though, since I'm growing some heat loving crops: Will the "mulch" delay warming of the soil?

Sounds like alfalfa might be the ticket. Would this plan make sense- Grow the alfalfa for three years, mowing & mulching/composting along the way. Then convert the bed for vegetables, and grow the alfalfa in a different bed for three years. In other words, rotate the green manure bed with the vegetable beds.

Gregbaker,

Another method you could try is to cut the peas even with the ground and then send the rest through a mulcher. This will break up the plant into tiny bits that you can place right back in your garden to compost in place.

If you don't have a mulcher, you can just pile up the plant debris on your grass and run it over with a lawnmower. Then take the goods in the bag and spread it around.

Great idea outsider, I have a mulching mower that should work well for that purpose.

There is actually a double benefit with peas. Both peas and beans put nitrogen back into the soil throughout the following growing season. I would suggest leaving as much pea stubble as you can to get the best benefit! The also save a lot of moisture compared to other items you would grow in a garden because of their shallow root system!

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden and Landscape Ideas