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Post by littleminnie on Jan 29, 2012 20:21:56 GMT -5
For a couple years I have grown Big N Alfalfa as a cover crop. It is said to be annual but isn't. It grows very fast though and does a great job in just like 6 weeks. But then you have to till it in really well. Territorial and one other company, maybe Bountiful Gardens?, have non-dormant alfalfa which is actually not winter hardy. I am going to try this in some beds this year. Perhaps it could be planted right into it next year without tilling which would make a nice mulchy mat. I am thinking for transplanted brassicas. I can't think of anything else I would need to plant like that. So I don't know why there isn't more use of winter dying ground covers. They seem like a great thing to me.
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Post by raymondo on Jan 30, 2012 3:52:41 GMT -5
... So I don't know why there isn't more use of winter dying ground covers. They seem like a great thing to me. I think so too. I'm going to try a bean/sorghum combo sown late summer that should be killed off with the first good frost. Roots in the soil, leaves and stems covering the surface, and no effort from me apart from sowing and maybe a water or two. What's not to love? |
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Post by littleminnie on Feb 1, 2012 20:19:18 GMT -5
Yeah, it is also a great way to use up pea and bean seeds your don't need for eating.
I was wondering if you bought just any old dry bean at the store (for eating) if you could use that for a cheap cover crop.
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Post by blueadzuki on Feb 1, 2012 20:24:52 GMT -5
Yeah, it is also a great way to use up pea and bean seeds your don't need for eating. I was wondering if you bought just any old dry bean at the store (for eating) if you could use that for a cheap cover crop. Should work, I've been covering my growing areas with leftover "reject" rice beans and senna seeds for years, and it seems to work fine (well except for trying to make sure that, come the time I plant Rice Beans or senna I actually want, there is some way to tell the "keepers" from the "cutters" |
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