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shazaam01

Quick Soil Building Spring Cover Crop

Ernie
15 years ago

I'm in the process of converting a portion our front lawn to garden beds. The topsoil was stripped from my lot when the house was built eight years ago, and, other than my garden in the back, I've neglected the soil ever since. What I'm left with is compacted sandy clay with a cover of assorted grass and common weeds. I'm in the process of aerating it to a depth of 8-10 inches with a spading fork and then working in about an inch of finished compost. Once that's complete, I'll cover it with newspaper and add another inch or so of compost. Next, I'd like to sow a cover crop. I know that it's best to sow cool weather cover crops in the fall, but are there any options that would produce a decent amount of biomass by late spring/early summer if sowed later this month? Vetch and rye perhaps? For reference, I'm in zone 7B in the Piedmont region of NC.

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