Every year we buy seeds and spend time prepping and planting things we never intend to harvest. What’s going on here? Cover cropping! A cover crop is anything you plant to achieve some other function, and that you do not harvest as a cash crop. There are many reasons to grow cover crops. One of their primary functions on our farm is improving soil health. Every year a third of our crop field is rested from vegetable production and planted instead with a cover crop. This year we are using a pre-mixed organic summer seed blend that includes soybeans, buckwheat, oats, field peas, millet and sorghum sudangrass. At the end of the season we will flail mow the cover crop and disk it into the soil to feel the soil micro and macro organisms that in turn feed our plants.
The amazing thing about cover crops in how many functions they can provide simultaneously! An important part of our weed management strategy is planting cover crops in the pathways between our vegetable crops. We still get weeds, but giving them competition from cover crops helps keep them in check. In the spring, we plant buckwheat between squash rows to attract pollinators. And the cover crops also keeps the soil significantly cooler and the soil biota happier than bare soil. Cover crops also help rain water infiltrate and hold soil in place, preventing erosion.
Cover crops have caused us some headaches, too. Like two years ago when we accidentally let sunflowers go to seed and ended up with a major weed problem. Or when we get behind in mowing the pathways, cover crops can restrict air flow leaving crops damp longer and more susceptible to disease. But the benefits make cover cropping worthwhile!
Sunscreen is for plants, too! These melons have been sprayed with kaolin clay to reduce the temperature while they adjust to life in the field.
Small Shares
- Red cabbage
- Red onions
- Squash and/or zucchini
- Harlequin potatoes
- Bell peppers
- Tomatoes
Full Shares
- Red cabbage
- Red onions
- Squash and/or zucchini
- Harlequin potatoes
- Bell peppers
- Tomatoes
- San Marzano type tomatoes
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