Cover crop recommendations?

I just rented about 500 sq. ft. of land from the city's community garden. It hasn't been cultivated in a while so it's dry and weedy. Water source is available and very accessible. I want to prepare the soil properly by growing some sort of cover crop this fall. I am brand new to this so I have a few questions:

1. What kind of cover crop would be good for zone 10?
2. I plan to grow vegetables, would that dictate the cover crop that I need?
3. Will I have to do anything to the soil, such as tilling or digging, before sowing the cover crop?
4. Due to the mild winter here, when will be the best time to sow and the best time to till the soil?
5. Is there anything else that I would need to consider?

Thank you for your help.

The picture is of the plot. I just covered up the whole area with weed block cloth for now because I wasn't sure what I needed to do next.

Quyen, here's an article about using cover crops in California.
I myself just sow winter rye seeds in my veggie garden in late Fall. No tilling in.
Then in early Spring I do till the green shoots under before planting.

http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/ccrop/CCPubs/SelectingCoverCrop.html

Quyen I suggest you ask your local cooperative extention agent which cover crop is best for your situation. Where I am it's red clover. The seed I sowed last fall grew very well, and I hated to have to pull the plants this spring because they were covered in beautiful red flowers and the bees were enjoying a banquet of nectar. I purchased the seeds from Johnny's.

I'm partial to winter rye. It grows in low temps and improves soil structure. It's not a legume - cereal/grass - so it doesn't add any nitrogen. But worms love it. It's great in my zone/soil (clay). Not sure it might be as good for SoCal. The sarep link above is a good one.

Quyen...can you post back your progress? What did you plant and was it successful?

Carol

I recommend winter rye - even in your growing zone - because it is quick to establish and produces a lot of biomass. It is cheap relatively speaking and I have used it my vegetable gardens for years. It grows in the colder temps of winter which might not be such an issue for you. It is fairly easy to incorporate in early Spring (Feb. for me here in Indiana) but has a slight allelopathic effect and, so, must be tilled in several weeks before you sow new crops.