Cover Crops in the Garden

Anyone here using cover crops on a small scale in their garden? I love the idea of using plants to help build the soil, prevent winter erosion, feed pollinators, and provide mulch - all with very little work from the gardener :) I have been using some cover crops in my garden and was wondering what others have successfully used as well? Some that I already incorporate are hairy vetch combined with diakon radish (fertility and soil drilling/aeration), white clover (fertility), and Buckwheat (fertility, pollinators, mulch). This year, I additionally sowed red clover beneath my broccoli to see if it would help boost fertility this year and the next.

Overall, I have found that I do prefer an annual cover crop that will die over the winter to a perennial so I do not need to do anything additional in spring to prepare our beds. We also practice no-till, so crops that winter kill can either be planted through and used as a mulch in spring, or just raked off and added to the compost as carbon :)

Anyone else have a cover crop that they use? I would love to compile a list!

Comments

  • spowell07
    spowell07 Posts: 37 ✭✭✭

    We use Red clover it’s a short-lived perennial that is winter hardy throughout West Virginia. Red clover can be used as a cover crop that provides many benefits such as fixing nitrogen to meet needs of the following crop, protecting soil from erosion, improving soil tilth, competing with weeds, as well as supplying forage needs. It does best on well-drained soil, but it also tolerates poorly drained soil. It prefers a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.2. There are two types of red clover: medium red and mammoth red clover. Medium red is most common. It is quicker to establish than mammoth and grows back well after it is cut. We have tried others but seem to always return to using red clover

  • drpclarke
    drpclarke Posts: 53 ✭✭✭

    I have used Daikon radishes, buckwheat, and Austrian Winter peas. I have tried to look for cover crops that I can eat if possible. We didn't have any peas, but we did have a lot of Daikon radishes to eat. I enjoy eating the leaves with my salads and I use the root to use as a replacement for potatoes. They are starchy like potatoes, but they can be baked to replace french fries. You just have to get past the initial smell in the over, but it goes away.

  • Alison
    Alison Posts: 179 ✭✭✭

    We are going into spring here shortly and I am planning on using Chickpeas and Amaranth to help cover the soil here to keep it cool and possibly be a little productive. It will be good for bees and beneficial bugs, apparently loves hot weather and can survive on as little as 25mm of rain.

    If it works I will be able to cut and drop the rest or feed some to the chooks.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    I have used in the past some of the following: Buckwheat, White Dutch Clover, Hairy Vetch, Austrian Winter Pea, Hullless Oats, Winter Rye, and a Winter Wheat (I don't recall its name right now though). They definitely were beneficial and I try add them in the late Summer or early Fall let them overwinter and then cut when I start growing.