What is the benefit of growing cover crops?
Cover crops suppress weeds, reduce erosion and improve soil quality. Most are members of the legume or grain families and as such are hardy survivors. This is a good thing since they're often planted and forgotten about until the garden space they are occupying is needed for something else. Although they're usually sown in fall after your main crops have been harvested, they can be planted at any time of year and in any spot where the ground will be bare for a few months.
Members of the legume family are adept at fixing atmospheric nitrogen and, when used as a cover crop, add this valuable nutrient to the soil along with organic matter. Fava beans, hairy vetch, white dutch and crimson clover are members of the legume family which are commonly grown as cover crops. So are winter field peas and I've planted them for several years now with consistently impressive results. I've been known to plant my cover crops as late as mid-November and still end up with copious growth the following spring.
You can also use members of the grain family as your cover crop. The advantage of choosing oats, rye or buckwheat is that if you allow them to go to seed, you'll be able to harvest a fine crop of grain before turning the rest of the plant under.
Whichever cover crop you choose, make sure you turn it under a few weeks before planting your summer vegetables otherwise the decaying process will tie up valuable nutrients, making them unavailable to your plants.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
