Cover crops? Yes I can see you starring at me with that puzzled look on your face. What on heavens earth is she talking about now? In the past we have just concentrated on growing stuff in your garden that you actually harvest and enjoy. Cover crops on the other hand are just for that… ‘cover’.

Yes, you are not going to be growing these for harvesting, but more so for covering your soil. This is done so that you can help your soil recover and regain its natural nutrients. Often they will inject more nitrogen into the soil too. We have a lot of space for gardening, so we tend to leave out a section for just this.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• rye
• wheat
• fava beans
• peas
• oats

The ideal time to plant your cover crops is at the beginning of the gardening season. All you have to do is sow your seeds, and water them to allow for germination. After germination, just water them occasionally to maintain normal growth. There is nothing more you need to do with these.

In the warmer climates, you can leave the crop in the ground over winter. Growth will continue, slowly and this will help cover your soil over the winter. In the colder areas, the winter can kill most of your crop unless you plant rye and wheat. You can view a guide on cover crops from Cornell University here.

You can get more information from the One Hundred Dollars A Month blog, here…

How To Grow Cover Crops

You can watch the video below on the best cover crops & why to plant them…

You can watch the video below on no till cover crops…

You can watch the video below on growing cover crops in the fall…

.