Its a real tough question you have.

Really if you cannot clear and care for the plot - it will likely get overgrown and lose its effectiveness.

If I were you - What I would do is clear an long, skinny - section like you described - and plant it with a heavy clover blend in June or even July if its still a wet area - plant it with some rye mixed in - but not much - and fertilize it with a couple bags of 15-15-15 all purpose type fertilizer. After the first year - I would continue to fertilize the Cut-over - and make another one the next year. - and so on. the fertilized cutovers would grow some clover & maybe some rye - until they filled in with young, nutritious, browse. Don't cu the old plat again - let it fill in with young browse.