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I think the rotation of the auger bit is correct to dig into the earth. If the auger hits obstruction, the clutch will free-wheel before it does anything crazy.
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So I was completely wrong (backwards) with
this geometry of auger bit and tiller body? Oh well.
It simply would have meant staking the other side
and using a chain or old seat belt for a restraint
if you wanted to brace the thing against unwanted
rotation of the tiller body (for just the second or so
it takes you to let go of the throttle).
If you think about it, the alfalfa rotation is simply
scaling down what farmers do when they leave
a field fallow for a season to the scale of a
backyard garden: "grow alfalfa in it, feed the
worms and other beneficial soil organisms,
replenish organic matter in the soil, and
break up compacted soil at the bottom
of the root zone." If one adds the "containers
on stands above the alfalfa" strategy (could be
burlap sacks full of horse manure that one simply
pushes off the stands and adds to the mulch at
the end of the season), that is going them one
better by using the available sun exposure of that
"fallow" section, something that farmers normally
write off as just part of the cost of leaving a field
fallow for a season.
If I were doing that and had a shallow depth of
fertile soil above relatively infertile subsoil (the
usual situation in the Pacific Northwest, where
soil typically starts out with a few inches of
humus above a foot or less of topsoil above
heavy clay with varying amounts of sand and
gravel in it), I would loop back to the first
section again after rotating through the whole
garden and repeat the alfalfa soil improvement
process for as long as I gardened there.
One can grow a winter cover crop over a whole
garden bed, not only the "fallow" section. Winter
cover crops are planted at various times depending
on climate, later in warmer areas with longer growing
seasons, earlier in colder areas. I would guess
middle-of-August to first-week-of-September for
NY, for example. That allows it put on some growth
before the snows come in earnest, and yet that
is late enough to not pose much competition for
crops that have not yet been harvested.
Some people till cover crop top growth into their
beds in spring, others simply mow/weed-eat it
and leave it there for mulch. (What the worms
don't eat becomes humus.)
Alfalfa really roots deep, well beyond the deepest
rooting tomato plants. I don't know how deep
winter cover crops like winter rye, hairy vetch,
etc send down roots.
(Clover caveat: white clover is alleged to be a heavy
competitor for water in the summer, so I'd avoid that
one in a vegetable garden, especially where it
might winter over. I would stick to winter annual
or perennial cover crops that go completely
dormant in summer, even in cool, rainy summers.)
HTH,