I plant oats in mid Sept. for a cover because the seed is very cheap for me, it establishes quickly, it doesn't mind the heat at all and by or before killing frosts it has at least grown to the point I want it to (not quite set seed). For you, I'd broadcast and incorporate the seed heavily now to get a dense, young stand in weeks time, it may or may not get you what you want but give it a try and find out. It took me a few years to get the oat cover system worked out well for my system of planting and growing to full cover with minimal intervention, cost and effort. happy planting.

I would think that soybeans or cowpeas would grow as long as you got some water on them. They may not get as big so you could sow them kinda thick and not worry about bean production.

Hi Becky, It's good to know y'all survived the first year because the first year is the hardest. It's a little hard for me to answer your questions about cover crop planting because I've in the warmer part of zone 7 and you are in the cooler zone 6. So, hopefully Moni, George, SweetAnnie and other zone sixers will see your questions about planting cover crops and answer them from the perspective of also being zone 6 gardeners. From my perspective, it is not too late down here in zone 7, but that doesn't necessarily help you up in zone 6. In zone 7, you can plant winter crops as early as late August if rain is falling or as late as late October if the month remains somewhat warm (no freezing nights). In one memorable year when our first freeze did not occur until the week of Thanksgiving, I finally got cover crops planted in early to mid-November, but mine are usually in the ground long before that. Cool-season cover crops merely need to be planted early enough that the seeds can sprout and the roots can get somewhat established before colder weather begins. Down here in zone 7, we can grow spinach, collard, mustard or beets, and kohlrabi deep into the winter, depending on how cold our autumns/winters get, and usually can grow swiss chard and kale all winter long. Radishes are a great winter crop because you can get "finished" ones in only 3-4 weeks from seed, so you often can "sneak in" a crop in between major cold spells. Turnips and rutabagas planted in late summer to earliest fall can tolerate quite a bit of cold, although very cold weather can shut down their growth. Garlic overwinters fine in the ground for me, but onions may or may not. Some years I do cover crop (and for that purpose my favorites are elbon rye, Austrian winter peas, winter wheat and hairy vetch) and other years I spend the winter months piling on tons of compost and chopped or shredded leaves, or composted animal manure, or chicken coop litter, which in our case is a blend of hay and chicken manure. With some cover crops, you can cut it down to the ground level and plant right through it. (I use a weedeater to do this in raised beds, sometimes using the brushcutter blade instead of the string trimmer line.) Or, with some cover crops, it is better to till the cover crop into the soil at least a couple of weeks before you intend to plant. What I plant as a cover crop and how I handle it in late winter to early spring depends on what crop will be planted in that raised bed in the spring and WHEN it will be planted. For example, if I am going to plant a cover crop in beds where I'll have early plantings like onions and potatoes, I want to plant that cover crop in late August or early September, and till it into the bed in Jan. before planting in Feb. On the other hand, I can plant a later cover crop in beds that will have the very warm season crops like melons, okra and black-eyed peas because those crops don't go into the ground until my soil temps hit 70 degrees. So, in those areas, I might plant the cover crop in October, but not till it under or cut it back until March or early April for a late April to mid-May planting. Wind erosion can be an issue and cover crops helps reduce it. My garden is strongly sheltered from the wind by forested areas very close by on both the south and north sides, and some trees, shrubs and outbuildings (chicken coop and guinea coop) on the west side. With these windbreaks, wind erosion is not necessarily a worry for me. Since your garden is more wind-exposed, it would be best for you to have either a lot of mulch on the beds or cover crops to help protect the soil in your raised beds from the north winds. Another option we don't discuss here as much is solarizing beds. Solarizing means you remove crop debris at the end of the season (especially if those crops had fungal or bacterial issues) and cover the beds with heavy duty plastic--either clear or black. The sunlight will heat the soil underneath that plastic and usually gets the soil hot enough to kill at least some of the disease pathogens. I don't like to solarize too often because it also can kill good soil life, but sometimes it is necessary, especially if you have a lot of soil-borne tomato disease. You might want to call your local ag extension service agent and see what he or she recommends you plant at this time of year as a cool-season cover crop since they know your climate and current weather trends. If it seems like it is too cold to plant any of the standard cool-season crops, you always can go with radishes, especially the really large Japanese radishes. They are a very good cover crop, produce masses of organic material for your beds and are quite cold hardy. Their seed can be hard to find, though. Good luck, Dawn

carolynp, yes, I think we are in similar zones, you just have more rainfall. I am hoping my neighbor's leaves fall before I head south. I'm going to TRY to find a lot of leaves to run over with my lawnmower, then put them (hopefully about 2-3") over the tops of my beds, sprinkle a bit of fertilizer over them (so the nitrogen can aid in breaking down the leaves),and cover them with a 2-3" layer of composted cow manure. Then, next spring, I'll probably turn it all under, just because that's what I like to do to make a fine seed bed, and rake it smooth before I plant. I know it's nice to just layer, but some things I just cannot change about myself. I have to dig! Granny Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden