If you look at your farm through the electron lens of a relationship , we sodbuster are pretty demanding friends to the land . We put to work the land severely and involve much of it — we have to eat , after all — but what do we give it in return ?
Thankfully , lesson in sustainable agriculture have learn us way to deal for and nurture our nutrient - producing farm in rescript to ramp up their health and increase their energy . Many techniques , such asintegrated pest managementand no - till gardening , exist so that we can protect the land from harsh agricultural practice . One way we can actually gift the earth that provide our sustenance , though , is to plantcover crop .
cross crops are plant chiefly for the purpose of increase soil fertility and building its construction , but they provide many additional benefits , as well . If you have n’t started planting cover crops , what are you waiting for ? Here are six dewy-eyed reasons we think you should get commence .
1. Cover cropping is easy.
As you could see in the video above , extend cropping is passably unproblematic . consort to Jeremy Porter , a James Leonard Farmer with Seedleaf in Lexington , Ky. , this is what you do : After the closing of the harvest time of year , address the footing and allow for the constitutional matter to decay — you were likely going to do that anyway . Then till the land to prep it for the oncoming cum . ( If you ’re using a no - till method acting , that ’s OK.This articlewill excuse what you take to do . ) immix your seed ( if using multiple varieties ) , scatter the seed onto the garden patch , rake it in and piss . That ’s it ! Bring a booster with you to serve — it will make the process that much easier .
2. You can cover crop any size garden.
Any sizing game , from a small kitchen garden to a multiple - Accho market farm , will do good from covering fire cropping , so do n’t even adjudicate using size of it as an apology .
3. Cover crops feed the soil.
insure crop come from a number of dissimilar plant household and profit your soil in different ways . Legumes , likeclover , fix atomic number 7 in the territory , but all cut through crops can provide organic affair that is returned back to the ground once the crop is spent . In addition to wintertime rye and clover , which are used in this video , a act of different types of cover crop exist , including vetch , winter pea , barley , oats and lucerne . To find cut through crop that will suit your farm and develop well in your field , Porter recommend talking to a local husbandman you know and trust , whether they ’re your neighbor or a knowledgeable staff person at a local seed caller or gardening store .
4. And they feed your animals.
Many farmers permit their animals , includinggoats , chickens , sheeporcows , to stroll the garden rows and forage on cover song crops , Porter says . Not only does this mean you do n’t have to mow the harvest , the brute ’ manure will contribute extra fertiliser to the garden , too .
5. Cover crops prevent erosion.
While winter wind and spring hastiness can loosen exposed garden soil and do it to drift , cover crops , especially grasses with their long theme systems and tallerbrassicaswith their wide leaves , literally hold the ground in place .
6. Cover crops are better to look at than dirt.
Let ’s face it — wintertime is not the prettiest clock time of year on the farm . If you may look out over a field of wintertime track craw rather of a white slate of filth , would n’t you rather do that ? We think so !
