|
| If I'm going to plant a cover crop it has to be easy to plant and easy to remove. One year I broke my weed whacker cutting it down. One year it may have gone to seed before I knew what to do.
I have planted fava beans by just pushing them into moist soil and they grew but I threw them out in the spring; too much trouble to break them into smaller pieces. I could always do that again. I don't have a lot of space to cover which makes it all the more important to replenish the soil I do have. Thanks for your feedback. Ginny |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by darth_weeder z7 NY (My Page) on Sun, Oct 23, 11 at 22:37
| sounds like you're looking at just plain ordinary mulch. Easy to plant Easy to remove Doesn't go to seed Protects the soil while replenishing it. |
|
- Posted by ginnyginny Zone 9 Calif (My Page) on Sun, Oct 23, 11 at 23:48
| Thank you for your idea - you are probably right! Ginny |
|
| I'm certainly not an authority on cover crops; I've really only tried one but I liked it a lot - buckwheat. When I was using it, my goal was to have something to outcompete some tenacious weeds, and it did a great job. It was very easy to plant. It may go to seed, honestly. But I wasn't annoyed at that possibility because it was so easy to pull; I figured that if I had to pluck out a few stragglers later, that was nothing compared to the weeds I was fighting at the time. Your situation may be different! |
|
| Bees love Buckwheat. |
|
- Posted by ginnyginny Zone 9 Calif (My Page) on Tue, Oct 25, 11 at 23:52
| I don't really want to bring more bees into my garden. I know they are good for our gardens but I don't like getting stung. I've read recently that buckwheat is very good for us and in fact I'm eating it now in place of oatmeal. I'm still thinking about what to do. Thanks to all Ginny |
|
| Over here, buckwheat's a warm season plant. Favas are great, but they don't 'share' well, being so tall. A mix of plants is generally best. My standard winter cover crop's a mix of lupins, mustard, daikon, some kind of pea and whatever extra, aging seed I have lying around. This season there's a lot of kale and giant red mustard in there. |
|
| I would think peas and lentils would be just what you're looking for. They are cheap to buy (dried peas or lentils from grocery store), grow in cool months, and chop up decent. Will add more nitrogen if inoculated. |
|
| I have had terrible luck with legumes (peas/lentils), but was able to get a great stand of Hairy Vetch (which I am showing off in my recent post with pictures, hint hint). Buckwheat does work great, and is very easy to dig in and REALLY chokes the weeds. |
|
| Cereal Rye was very easy to grow around here in the fall. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.