Once you’ve finished cleaning up your vegetable beds, it’s time to consider planting a cover crop. Cover crops, sometimes called “green manure” crops, are planted to maintain and improve soil structure, soil fertility and to protect the living portion of your soil, including micro-organisms. Cover crops generally fall into two categories: Non-Legume and Legume. Non-Legume cover crops produce a large amount of bio-mass.
Bio-mass is plant material, including roots, stems and leaves. Non-Legume crops are the definition of “green manure” and include winter rye, oats and annual rye.
Turn these crops over in the spring to add organic material to your garden. Legume cover crops also build bio-mass and help fix Nitrogen as well.
Crimson clover, peas and red clover are Legume cover crops. It should be noted; the fixed Nitrogen becomes available once the legume starts to decompose.
Cover crops also have an influence on components of your soil through the winter. If you’ve left a portion of your garden fallow for some period of time, you’ll discover there’s not of life left in the soil. Most, if not all of the earthworms have disappeared, as well as the beneficial micro-organisms necessary to make you soil work effectively with your crops.
Cover crops will help protect the earthworms and micro-organism population by providing moisture and food through the winter. Cover crops can be sown directly into your garden anytime in late fall. Use a bow rake to work up the soil, then broadcast the seed over the soil. Cover the seed lightly with compost or peat moss.
Keep the area moist until the cover crop seed germinates, usually within two weeks. Cover crops are well suited to all gardens, regardless of size.
They're among the easiest crops to grow and whether you choose Winter Rye, Buckwheat, Clover or Peas and Oats, cover crops will protect and enrich your garden soil through the winter.
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