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Organic Gardening

Using Cover Crop - Need Advice

15 years ago

Hi,

I am beginning to establish beds so that I can plant next spring. I have very compacted clay soil. I just sent away for a soil test, but from past tests I am going to guess that my soil is alkaline and low in matter.

My plan is to till in compost (I never see worms so I am not worry about disturbing them)and then plant winter rye for a cover crop. My question is do I have to water the seed similar to grass seeds or vegetable seeds? I am only here on the weekend so I need to set up my sprinklers and timers if I have to water the winter rye daily. Also do I put mulch over the winter rye after it starts to grow? I understand the benefits of using a cover crop but I have read very little about how to actually plant the cover crop.

Thanks!

Jennifer

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Comments (4)

emcalister1
15 years ago
whatever you do do not use winter rye. You will be pulling it up all next year. I planted fava bean last year, mixed with winter wheat and hairy vetch. The fava beans were far and away the most successful. I used bell fava beans this year which are adaptable to poor soils. If you inoculate before planting, the plant will fix nitrogen in the roots. Planting fava beans is extraordinarily simple. Just broad cast the stuff and rake it in.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
Winter Rye will germinate in about 5 days if the soil is moist enough during that time, and the seed will germinate all at one time. In some 35 years of planting Winter Rye I have not had a problem with it germinating the next spring and summer, although if I let it go to seed I would have more germinate in the fall. Whatever emcalister1 planted probably was not Winter Rye.
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Well, that's the thing about cover crops, you don't HAVE to plant them. It's just that they're SO beneficial to the soil, predominantly for the "green manure" they provide when tilled/worked in in the spring. In northern climates, you can do a cover crop which dies over the winter from the cold, like oats or fava beans or field peas, if you don't want to contend with a bunch of growing plants in the spring. Or, if you want them to grow and generate even more green manure, use something like winter rye or winter vetch that will survive the winters. Used consistently, they really add a lot of humus to the soil. But, if you have a small raised bed, you can do that just by adding compost. If you had a much larger area, I would say that it would be hard to come up with enough compost, unless you can afford to buy some and have it brought in, to cover the area effectively, so a cover crop would be a good alternative in that situation. So, the choice is really yours. The one thing I would suggest, should you choose to do a cover crop, is to mix in a legume, such as field peas, favas, or crimson clover, which will fix nitrogen, in with the oats.
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Steve, many thanks. May do this - located a seed store that will sell me the pounds of seed I need. BUT since the soil is sooooo poor, thinking of getting ground leaves from the city next to me that uses a leaf vacuum machine. I'll be toting stuff to the far back for ages, but am thinking that if I can get 2'+ of already ground leaves up there, it would really benefit the soil. All opinions on this appreciated. Question: if I use huge piles of leaves, should I do simple wire cages around each of the trees to keep the leaves from the trunks? Also wondering if the leaf layer will stop the trees from getting the water they'll need over the winter.
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The one time that frost killed a stand of buckwheat I planted the stalks fell over and were fairly quickly digested by the Soil Food Web. The Stalks that Ma Nature uses to hold the soil in place in fallow fields stand upright for a long period of time, until a really heavy snow falls to knock them down and then the snow is a ground cover. In my perennial beds there will be things such as Echinacea, Phlox, etc. left standing to help hold the soil in place along with compost and shredded leaves, but the winter winds could easily blow the compost and shredded leaves off those beds if not for the plant stalks standing upright to stop that movement. The same thing will happen to your soil if not held in place.
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Comments (13)
Thanks everyone - great information. Gloria, I downloaded the catalog you mentioned and it does have a lot of good information. I do compost, and I'll be working compost into the veg garden this weekend, but the rest of the garden has awful clay soil and can use all the help I can give it. I thought if there's something easy I could plant that would actually grow in the winter, that might be a good solution. Steve, I'm glad to hear that pulling works just fine. I'd probably pull the plants and then fork them under, or trench them like you mentioned. My veg garden in particular is very small - only 12'x4', so hand-tilling is not a problem. Dan, I haven't heard of Excelsior, but I'll check it out. Thanks again, folks.
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peter_6
15 years ago
I agree winter rye is a good all rounder. You might also want to consider a sub-soil loosener. Sweet clover and forage radish are the recommended species. I would leave sweet clover in for two years to let the taproot develop, but you might not be able to wait. It does also add nitrogen and provide lots of foliage. Regards, Peter.
jenniferemily
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the advice! Peter, I looked up forage radish and that looks like a good option for me. In addition to loosening up my soil it also can tolerate dry conditions so I don't have to worry about watering it when I am not here.

Jen

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