I am in zone 7 and I use a mixed cover cropthat I order from Amazon. It is from Trueleaf market and has 10 types of cover crops. I ordered 5 lbs for $19 with free shipping. I used it in me raised beds last year and found so many worms in the spring when I cut it down an left it as mulch.
I just ordered this. Going to try it in about 500 sq feet of raised beds. Zone 6b Northeastern Pennsylvania Aug 26th 2022 I've used winter rye with hairy vetch in the past and it's been amazing how it transforms soil. Specifically we transformed a lawn area. Did a great job. We let it grow about 6 feet which was really cool. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were absolutely nuts. But what are they growing? Fescue?
I can't recommend rye highly enough for this. It lets other plants grow around it, but it's capable of growing through wood chips, if you mulch with them, and degrades them insanely fast over the winter. Also, if you keep animals, rye really seems to like gentle grazing and seed foragers. It feeds my chickens very well, and squirrels also eat the seeds
Same experience here on Vancouver Island BC. Rye has worked well in a test I did. Side note: Rye seed really attracts rats and never seems to stale in that regard. So I keep some for my traps, works better than peanut butter.
Thanks for reminding me! I'm going to be going to the store at lunch today and picking up some winter cover crop seeds! First time ever... And I'll be sure NOT to remove the roots of the summer's harvest. :)
Fall cover crops are very important indeed. Seeds are my favorite investment! :) We get some snow here a few times each winter but grasses like rye still stay alive all winter long. We're also lucky to already have a lot of both red and white clover here so I just let that do what it does. Right now (early April in zone 6b) I'm planning to also grow summertime cover crops in areas of our property that won't be used as gardens this year, but to get them ready for next fall's covers and then next spring's planting. I intend to use a lot of black oil sunflowers, okra and various beans, because the seeds are inexpensive and they grow all summer here. I've found that all three of those have strong roots that can dig into our heavy clay soil for me. I want to try some buckwheat and alfalfa in a couple spots, too.
@@SistersBreakingBad I usually leave the stalks standing over winter to provide habitat, then mow them down to become mulch in the spring. I leave the root systems in the ground to decompose.
I'm scared of using cover crops, as the one I did 2 years ago is still causing garden take-over. From tillage turnips to alfalfa and clover, they're STUBBORN in our sub tropical climate. You're so inspiring, I'm tempted to give it another go though
@@ralfnuggs165 Oh, yes we did that. I must say, though, the gardens with the clover problems power on, even without watering, when the other gardens look near neath!
@@modee-b9s Chopping the turnips down to the ground is easy with a shovel, but they re-shoot and grow fast. I do chop the lucerne and clover down to the roots and give them to the cows, but it's still planted out with things I don't want them or the chooks eating, lol. I'm learning to embrace it. Just sprinkled clover seeds all over a new garden to help suppress weeds and have a living mulch that improves soil life. It's the lucerne that's the worst - the ROOTS! It's like the roots go as deep and as strong as it grows above ground!
Greetings from northern/coastal Massachusetts zone 6A. I've been watching your videos since the beginning, and have not commented before this .. I'll just say that your demonstrations are second to none, and as a microbiologist/virologist - I absolutely love when you bust out your microscope! Winter rye is my go-to cover crop here. I wish you the very best and look forward to your future content. Cheers and blessings to you and your family! Eric
THANK YOU so very much for your kind words. I love how nature works and as a low income farmer it helps me so much to have nature help me to produce vegs. Have a great year ahead.
OMG, thank you so much for this video. I've tried Austrian peas unsuccessfully three times. I will definitely try clover (rather than winter rye) to hopefully attract bees during summer months and keep the clover growing through the winter for the soil. I leave all vegetable plant roots to over winter in the soil but of course they eventually decompose. Again, thank you SO much.
Thank you for this video. It's very helpful. I'm an amateur beginning gardener and love to learn to have success gardening. First time I learned about cover crops a few weeks ago and I'm trying out crimson clover in a front yard flower bed and mixed seeds in a backyard raised bed. The crimson clover is slow to germinate but the mixed seeds are growing, I love it. I will make tea fertilizer out of the clover like you explain, so thank you for this info!
Crimson clover is one of my favorites. I like to let some of it grow to full maturity so it drops seeds. If it starts to take over a bed, it's easy to terminate it by just cutting it down. Then use those clippings for fertilizer tea again or just lay it down as mulch. For other areas like paths and lawns where you don't want it to grow long, white clover is great. It provides much of the same benefit, but it stays low to the ground. If you want to mow the area, just set your mower high and cut the grass, but the white clover will remain and keep pulling nitrogen into your soil all or most of the summer.
Great video Mark. Can you help with a list of cover crops to use as companion crops and living mulch during the growing season? I used your strawberry and clover companion system with great success. Thinking of using sunflowers with and amongst vining crops next year.
Here is a list that you can choose from to help you. Look under endo mycorrhizal fungi. the top one on the list. www.rootnaturally.com/PlantListMycorrhizal.pdf
I don't do compost either I don't see the need to compound so much stuff in my garden( each to their own) I just throw home fertilizer. I live in zone 13 heat can get brutal in Phx. When I started gardening I didn't understand why I watered so much by evening it looks like I did not water at all. My soil was hard on the surface and moist few inches down. I did lots of research I realized i had to mulch to keep the surface soil moist. Every videos I watch everybody keeps saying COMPOST COMPOST and COMPOST. My mini garden thrives without Compost just fertilizer here and there. Thank you very informative.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! Newbie question here: you mentioned having a nice, thick mulch in place during the growing season, and then growing cover crops over fall/winter. But how do you sow the cover crop where a thick layer of mulch is already in place? It is just a matter of raking back all the mulch to sow the cover crops seeds? Thanks!
That beautiful thick mulch is almost gone by the end of the garden season. The soil biology eats it. I place about 8 inch's of leaves down. By Fall only 2 inch's is left. But YES. rake it back and plant away. Great question. THANK YOU.
This has been puzzling me too. I will be trying this and had already decided to pull back my mulch. Unfortunately here in arid So. Calif. it doesn't break down that much over the summer.
Question...so in spring when you go to plant your garden how do you get rid of all that clover and rye? Do you till? How would one go about that in a no till garden? Was just going to cover my garden with billboard tarp after putting cow manure on.
Hello. Thanks for asking. You can always till the top 1 inch of your soil. I understand that there is lots of people that say no till but never say that you can till the top one inch. Why is that .. in nature the animals are always digging the top inch for worms, bugs etc. Plus the large animals walk and crush the ground also. But nature repairs this due to healthy soil microbes and you are also doing this once a year also. You can cut the cover crop down one inch below the soil to stop it from growing one month before planting. There is lots of people doing what you are doing with manure and a tarp. Microbes need air and water, the tarp stops that from happing. When does nature ever seal off with a non air moving tarp.
@@iamorganicgardening I wondered that exact thing! Im brand new to gardening and trying to gleen from many sources; some conflict so I try to ask. Your one of the few to take the time to reply....thank you so much!
Mark I learned from you earlier about the huge roots of the sunflower and now I followed the sunflower 2 seasons without disturb the soil ( no tilting) it's the best result I've tried and I tested 6 other methods and less work and less water and definitely my most productive way for tomatoes But I've been trying to raise the biggest sunflower I can and I layout the sunflower in a square each space where I plan to follow with the tomato seedlings and do follow the sunflower for 2 seasons of tomato seedlings. You said use the medium sunflower I'm asking how do you space the sunflower plant? Thanks
@@iamorganicgardening will do one 50 ft row and a short 20 ft row both about 3 ft wide. I'm expecting great results. I'm actually harvesting extra sunflower seeds as I'm reading this thanks Thanks
Dear Mark, thank you for your great videos. 2 questions - I have avoided winter rye as a cover crop because I have heard they end up competing with your crops? What is your experience? Also I bought different varieties of sunflower seeds as I was inspired by one of your previous videos. Now you say don't plant the larger sunflowers? Why? And what to do with those seeds? Also I am in zone 6B. I am home gardener - lots of fruit trees and berries and veggies and herbs. Thank you!
Awesome thanks so much, actually best video if seen on this. Starting to understand, I’m gonna do a clover and winter rye, hoping I’ll crimp the rye in the spring and plant my tomatos melons cucumbers there. Then the clover half put the rest like corn potato carrots what do you think of this?
This past winter was the first time I planted cover crop. I’m very happy with hairy fetch, pea, etc. The one that did best was winter rye. What should I do with the grass? Will it die off by itself or do I have to pull it?
Very informative video. I’ve sowed fall/winter covered crops for many years and every spring I’ve cut, let it dry, and given some fresh greens to my chickens, and then tilled it over. My question is this: Instead of tilling the cover crop can I just cut it down and then sow beans? Also, if I don’t till it under can I plant tomatoes, peppers,etc…. I’m skeptical because doesn’t the cover crop continue to grow if it doesn’t get tilled over? Thanks for your time
YES, Never till. I know there is a lot of info that says to do that. IT IS WRONG. Why is it wrong? because to you are undoing the work the cover crop roots did all winter tilling you soil for free. The most important pf the cover is growing fungi in your soil to make you plants healthy. You need bacteria and fungi to be the same amount , equal with each other. Tilling kills that fungi. Thanks for asking
@@iamorganicgardening thanks for your response but I still have another doubt about not tilling. In the spring after the cover crop is cut won’t it continue to grow and therefore be difficult to sow seeds? Will that fall cover crop die off or will it continue to grow? What do we need to do? Continue cutting it throughout the planting season if it doesn’t die off and therefore not need to sow again in the fall? Thanks
Hi Mark. I built a raised bed similar to what you showed (much lower but using a lot of wood chips, then leaves and grass clippings, a little high-clay soil. After 3 years I threw a bunch of sunflower seeds and some wildflower seed mix and I think I must have also thrown in buckwheat just to see if I could get it going as a growing medium. Last year when I tried just sunflower seeds, no luck at all. This year I got a ton of buckwheat but nothing else. Should we leave the roots in this fall or cut them off? Is there a chance the sunflowers might still come through?
I have raised beds and last year was the first time I used cover crop of winter rye on a couple of the beds. Come spring I chopped off the top and let it lay on the soil and roots and put a black plastic tarp over it to kill it. It took a couple months for it to mulch but the soil was so rich, lots of worms. This year I have a bed that had garlic in it and once I harvested it in July I planted a cover crop of mostly clovers, vetch, peas and beans. I understood that they would winter kill but you are saying the clover will keep living through the winter ( I am in zone 8b). What do I have to do when I get ready to sow seeds in the spring of the clover is still growing in that bed?
All Clover is much easier to kill off in the spring time. If you wish you can just cut it off at soil level 2 weeks before you plant with a weed whacker. Or you can use the black plastic again. But it will be much quicker. Clover has much softer stems and leaves
Thank you so much for this! We bought an acreage with ten acres in alfalfa in very sandy soil. We've been told that we need to till and start over with a different crop for a season and replant alfalfa the year after. Can we just do a cover crop and save our hay field from being disked up?
I JUST found your channel! I have two smallish gardens and 3 raised beds. I have had chips down for 3 years now and they have broken down well. I’m in NE GA, red clay but soil isn’t bad because of everything I’ve done over the years. Question is about cover crops. IF I can find the seeds now and plant either the winter rye or the clover, how do I deal with it in the spring? I also have comfrey all around the gardens and have my collards and chard planted in a couple rows. Any advise is greatly appreciated… and tonight will be spent watching you videos. Thank you!
Sorry for the delay. The wood chips that are broken down will and good fungi to your soil, That a great way to start. To stop any cover crop in the spring cut it down just below soil level 30 days prior to planting your crop by seeds or transplants. Or you can place 5 inch's of fall leaves on top to smother it also. Your main goal is to have a balance of equal goal of fungi to bacteria ratio of 1: 1. Wood Chips help so very much due to the fungi eat it. Try to use a mulch as much as possible in the hot times of the year. Comfrey is great to take the soil near the plant and make a tea from it. It is filled with fantastic soil live that you can add to your garden. THANK YOU and Enjoy.
@@iamorganicgardening Reading this with interest. I live near the coast in CA. I am on my 4th crop of Sunflowers springing up from seed. I started a Back to Eden garden two years ago. My soil was covered with black plastic and rock. Could not find a worm. I have added lots of things to amend the soil do not till. I have used sunflowers and peas in areas of the garden.. The wood chips are finally breaking down and dirt in some areas is showing. Finally some of the native flower seeds, self sowing vegetables seeds, etc. are coming thru everywhere in various areas, especially where I bury my kitchen scrapes directly in the soil. Pumpkin, squash, etc. even in winter. it is like a seed factory. Many things coming up not sure what until they get taller. I am thinking I will have to thin plants out. I do have some raised beds mixed in with flat garden areas. I am thinking of doing more chop and drops, leaves, wood chips to build soil and easy of keeping weeds at bay. Does it mater what order I add things? Can I plant cover crops and plant kale, corn, vegetables among the cover crops? Must admit the wood chips in my garden made for easy maintenance as I got very few weeds. My front is native planting and the rest garden and fruit trees. Need it to look semi nice as I am in an HOA and everything is at the street. So far people like what I am doing and ask lots of questions, Also, our HOA has a garden plot. I am waiting for a space which may be fairly large. Many people rototill twice a year. I will not. I am thinking my best bet will be organic compost mixed with the dirt then plant a cover crop. Later cut the cover crop at ground level. It may be spring or summer before I get a plot. My main concern is keeping weeds down. Wood chips are hard to get into the community garden and I am dealing with some whose old ideas of gardening are bare dirt, rototilling, plant and have no cover over the ground. Just pull weeds. Straw they think would attract rats and mice although I use it in my garden with no problem, Any advice would help. Should I just chop and drop and put down leaves in between the areas I seed to keep down weeds? Thank you. Lori
Really interesting I was under the impression that this "residue" at 12:02 was thatch and that creates a favorable environment for pests and disease, an unfavorable growing environment. The meaning behind that comment is in the example of something simple like grass, where learned about this in lawncare, it prevents a fuller/thicker growth of the medium that is attempting to be grown. I can see how this would be beneficial with plants like vegetables for the purpose of soil temperature. However, for cover crops, I am not so certain. What is your take on this?
Soil is a living thing with Billions of good soil microbes per tablespoon of soil. They need to eat. Mulch or Thatch will be eaten by them, In lawn care they teach you to by products that they sell you so they make money. They do this to farmers also. Nature does not need our help.
Trying your advice about sunflower 2ft then tomatoes plants, I like both and I'll see if both benefits Thanks Mark. Last season I mostly had sunflower in the location and yes I've noticed the sunflower massive root rootball. Interested about more cover crops for Benefits
I have been trying to find someone who talks about how to water the cover crops in the winter if you don't get a lot of precipitation and it gets cold enough that you're concerned about freezing pipes
If it gets cold enough to freeze you do not have to water. The water in the frost and air is good enough for the cover crop. Do you have fog in the morning also?
Im looking to plant a cover crop in the fall this year. I have heavy clay soil that really lacks nitrogen. Will a cover crop fix nitrogen deficiency or do I need to add nitrogen before planting the cover crop?
I’m in zone 6b central wa in the woods at approximating 2400ft elevation and get about 3-4 feet of snow starting in December but sometimes November. Looking for advice on good cover crop and when to sow it as this is my first time growing a cover crop. Would I need to keep 3-4 feet of snow off the cover crop? They’ll be in raised beds this year and then next year after I’ve prepped an in-ground back to Eden style garden space I’ll do cover crops there I think too!
I am interested in cover crops I live in zone 5b My question is how do I terminate them in the spring. With out tilling . My garden is a back to Eden garden I have noticed that my vegetables all grow much better near my trees I also have had great luck growing near raspberry blueberry and blackberry but not so great in large open areas . So you have thought me the importance of cover crops . How do I terminate wit out damage ?
One of the old gardens I dug out and replaced the soil in was completely solid full of roots,. My guess is it had no worms or anything breaking them down. I wonder .... What was wrong with it. But I'm thinking it was just drained of nutes and dry for long periods so worms weren't doing their thing there
Maybe try to cover it with organic material like leaves/grass, then, cardboard and straw or leaves/grass then black plastic for a winter. That brings up the worm population and organic matter
One question: could wild herbs be used as cover crops? So leave all the weeds and eliminate them only in the holes in which I sow or transplant the vegetables? Thank you
Just found your channel. Very interesting info about the cover crops. What would you do if you want to plant in that field of rye? Would you till it? Thanks again
First dig a hole to see how hard the soil or clay is a foot deep. If very difficult to do you can plow ( it will not harm any microbes because their is only bacteria in the soil } Just the first time, no till in the future crops. Then spread seed ( winter rye it OK to plant in your area per seed company advice ) on top of soil . and rake in 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
Search on Google : Cover crops for sale near me? You might also have to type in state and zip code also. Then call there customer service and speak to them. You want something to buy/plant that the root lives over winter and regrows in the spring again. Enjoy.
Hello Mark... I was wondering...after you plant the winter rye, and BEFORE you plant your Spring veggies...are you supposed to then kill out the top of the rye and plant your seeds right into the soil? Or do I till the garden soil at this point and then plant the seeds? I'm not sure what to do after the cover crop and before the planting? Also, I live in central Oklahoma...not certain which cover crop would be best or how much to order? My garden is approx. 20 ft by 30 ft. And what do I do about bugs! I sprayed for bugs twice this year but now they are back again with a vengeance! Garden season is nearly over and I am not planting a Fall crop. (Actually, I've never even tried a Fall crop. Maybe I'm missing out? And if I planted a Fall crop....would I still have time to plant a cover crop? Thank you for a reply!
mark i planted winter rye in my raised beds last fall. i didnt have enough time to let it go to seed before it was time to plant the garden. that being said i found it difficult to terminate the rye. any suggestions?
Hello, just start 30 days before planting seeds, or transplants by laying sheets of cardboards wight down on top of the winter rye. Or you can cut the winter rye down a 1/2 inch below soil level to stop it. Thanks. Also if you can seed/plant earlier use clover instead of winter rye.
In this case you till in the leaves as deep as you can using a 50 % leaves /50 % your soil mix . One time only and always keep the ground moist. Water is key keep the soil alive, do not let dry out at any time of the year
I would buy a cover crop mix off of Amazon, spread the seed and cover with about an inch of so of hay/straw. Throw more cover crop seed down every week over top the hay like a succession planting, as well as keep it watered. The hay/straw will keep the moisture on the ground and eventually the cover crop will break open your soil!
Speaking about cover crops, can weeds be used as a cover crop? After all the word "weeds' is just a word people sometimes apply to anything they "think" they don't want. It is similar to the word "pests" , some people just label all bugs as pests but the truth is many of those bugs are beneficial. Same thing will happen with the weeds i suspect, those people only labeling stuff they don't understand, but the truth is, most if not all weeds are beneficial most likely. Put it this way, weeds grow where you leave the ground bare, it is a clue that nature knows what it is doing. So, why tear those out when they already wanta grow there, and grow there in abundance?
I remember the local farmers in southern New Hampshire generally planted "winter rye" in the late fall every year, and often did crop rotation as well. We were taught these things in school in those days. (For the benefit of those of us who lacked some of the upscale amenities like indoor plumbing, we were also taught that the outhouse should always be down the hill from the well )
This was my 1st full year of backyard gardening. I am in the eastern panhandle of WV. I want to stay organic as much as possible but have hard clay & a million rocks to dig in so I am using raised beds & wicking tubs but would like to try fixing my soil. I grow mostly to support my local food bank. also have moles, rats, gophers & rabbits that I want to trap & put in a pen!!! I am composting & want worms too. I started too late last year to grow much. It was was disappointing but this past Spring, I was ready with seedlings that I grew myself. I am learning @ 75 years old! I had beautiful crops of tomatoes, peppers & many other things too. Some disappointments but lots of successes. I am learning lots & just planted my 1st cover crop (black eyed peas & Crimson Clover that I inoculated) in a small area that I had tried to grow green & wax beans in without much success. This area had been a flower bed that was well-mulched for years & so was a little easier to deal with. Love your information & help. Thanks so much!
I am so very happy for you and your garden. Green beans and peas will help your soil very much aa a food crop due to a great root system. If you can get your hands on use coffee and mix in your soil very helpful also. THANK YOU for sharing this with me, your a amazing gardener.
@@sararampton654 thanks Sara, I am trying to make a difference in my little neighborhood. I started a gardening & composting group on my local Nextdoor group & lots of people bring me their leaves & stuff that would normally be left out @ the curb. If you don’t know about Nextdoor check it out! I try to educate people about growing their own food naturally!
I'm really lucky, because I have a native vetch that handles nitrogen mineralization very well if I just leave it alone. We also get very good cover of rye growing every year. My yard takes care of winter cover for me, and when I kill it in the spring and plant in it, everything does well. Also, oats have taken to being a consistent winter grass from when I fed chickens there. We had a cool, wet spring two years ago that killed it, but we had millet coming up for four years, but that grows in the summer, so it's not in the garden.
We use Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), cow peas, alfalfa and comfrey (thanks to your prior suggestion) as our cover crops and we chop and drop for biomass, and green manure here in Arizona. Great information and thank you for sharing.
How do you keep the Mexican sunflower from growing where you drop it? Turkscap hibiscus too is good but i had to kick it around a couple times cause is kept growing back. I'm thinking now, probably cause we get so much rain in Florida.
Do you put them in the ground starting fall time? I live in So Cal and I wanted to do a mix of cover crops, but I got confused towards the end when he said that the roots will not go as deep 😢
@charleskelm3703 Is your Comfrey the cultivar, Russian Bocking 14, that doesn't produce viable seeds? If not, that could be why you're fighting a losing battle with it. In this case, you want to prune every sign of flowering before it releases seed. Nip it in the bud. To keep RussianBocking14 in check, each spring, you can slice straight down into the soil about 18 inches out around the Comfrey plants you want to keep. RB 14, reproduces by sending out runners, so cutting them off near the end of spring, will help to keep it in check. Otherwise, my sheepish side wants to encourage you to start a Comfrey Root propagation business.😂
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience Mark. This is the most informative and insightful soil building video i have ever seen. “Living root over winter”, damn, I too wish I had known about this 10 years ago (in Zone 5a)!
Thank for sharing this awesome and informative video with me...loved, loved, loved it... watched it a few times to get a good understanding of cover cropping... I just terminated buckwheat which I left on the soil but I don't know where to go from there....next time I will go with the winter rye because of its massive root system. Will I have to cover the buckwheat with landscape fabric till next planting season?
I believe you could still plant a mix with only 2 months to grow before freezing as I have read that is the purpose of radish. It grows and gets killed in the fall and then rots and leaves a hole for water and air to enter your soil... It might be smaller than you want but it would still be beneficial... Same thing with planting sunflowers even though they might not have time to bloom, they could still help. I would plant them in a mix that contains winter rye which can take over when the frost sensitives die.
It is a little late but us here in southern Wisconsin, Zone 5a, just planted our first crop of annual rye today. We hope that it will still be able to germinate and loosen/build the soil. This is our first year of starting a garden so we cannot wait for next to see what it has in store. Our neighbors think we are nuts with collecting as many leaves as we have. Thank you so much for so much valuable information you have provided through these episodes.
Our neighbors too... They're so nosy. We have neighbors on two sides of the house and thank God no neighbors in the back side except it's a wooded land and deer are mainly our neighbors from that side. But one of the neighbors is a retired elderly and she never leaves the house. So far she's made comments like "You have so many containers... What you're growing will be eaten up by deer" ... So I am thinking of setting up a wooden fence. Pretty sure she will make a comment and I will tell her it's for the deer but actually I want to block her view, she doesn't know we've already solved the deer issue haha... We also collect leaves, matter of fact today we just made a leaf mold. When we were creating our first pile of compost 6 weeks ago we could see neighbors looking .. So now I have my compost in containers.. but they can't get hot (maybe because of the cold weather, but it's frustrating)... I definitely need to build a fence, or a wall! LOL
I am in the Madison area and I collect multiple trailer loads of leaves in the fall and the following year always manage to run out. As a new gardener, I would highly encourage you to put some energy in creating leaf mold. Leaf mold has so many applications plus being a fungal decomposition you really can't screw it up, like traditional hot composting. Another resource I would recommend is Gardener Scott, he has many pertinent videos for new and experienced gardeners alike. Good luck in your first year garden!!!
@@cheesekake1841 Compost needs mass, the small containers will not allow enough heat to be generated. Your neighbor is trying to tell you the small containers do not work and are ugly.
I read that during the depression in the 30’s, the farmers had removed all the ground roots from under their crops because they were told to grow more and more. Nothing would grow anymore and that was the cause of all the dust everywhere. One time this dust went in a huge cloud from the middle of the country (Dust Bowl?) all the way to New York.
This was our first garden season here in Minnesota. We used new Zealand white clover in 16 round raised beds as cover crop during the growing season, which was great (thanks for a great raised bed design!). Anyway, we are in zone 4A and I am wondering if there are any cover crops that will survive our cold winters. Or should we replant each year in early spring? Also, we are adding mulches leaves and mulched dead vegetable plants on top of the round beds for winter. I left the roots in the ground and just cut the tops. Are we on the right track?
I grow greens in my raised beds and have planted winter rye or med red clover between the rows. I keep the cover crops cut down to keep them from shading the greens until they get large enough to not be shaded. I try to keep roots in the ground at all times.❤
I’m new to your channel and I enjoy watching. Wow! It’s very interesting and I’ve learned so much! There’s a lot to absorb but I’m soaking it all in. My husband recently retired and is really enjoying getting into gardening. I will share your videos with him. They are very informative. Thank you
Can I use these tips in raised beds? I have 32 inch high raised beds. Zone 6b. New England area. 1st year gardener. Will the oats/rye/clover cover crop crowd out my plants next year? How do I prevent them from growing in the spring but get the benefit of them renewing the soil?
So I'm in a warmer climate, zone 9B and have been growing year round. In fall/winter I grow beets, radish, turnips carrots, mustard greens, lettuce, fava beans, peas, bok choy etc. Could I benifit from a cover crop, maybe alongside my cool weather crops. What would be the best way to go about this? Or are my cool whether crops essentially a cover crop?
Brilliant video! Thank you! I live in N Scotland and classify myself as Zone 7. I do the no dig/no till method and often sow green manures, but have not come across sowing cover crops over the winter. This is just in time for me to do it this year!😊
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your experience! I'm new with cover crops and am wondering if I plant winter rye (zone 3) in the Fall, do I then pull out for Spring? Or do I plant my tomatoes and herbs around the cover crops? Not sure how this works?
My father (old Nebraska farmer) always pointed out that rye as a cover crop is so beneficial because it has such a dense fibrous root mass. So much so that for every ton of green matter on the surface, there is 3 tons of fine brown matter below. This can break up hard pan, pull up nutrients from down deep. Most importantly the amount of earth worms skyrockets mixing the soil. We would spot seed rye into the weakest soils in huge corn fields. Over many years these weak patches start to match the better soils around them. Most other cover crops will only have 1-1.5 tons below the surface for each green ton above.
What do you mean you're making a "tea" from your clover? As in a compost tea? I just started a comfrey one today. I'm a 7 yr "newbie" to gardening and I struggle. I'm in Central Saskatchewan Canada and it can get to MINUS 50F in the midwinter evenings. Luckily, the snow seems to protect things because I have loads of clover, plantain, chickweed and dandelion in my grass, atm. 🙂 I went in ground gardening in the beginning and did well for a year or two- other than a chickweed infestation. Well, then we had a super wet summer in year 3 and I switched to garden beds and have struggled ever since. But I think after watching your videos on soil health, that could be my issue. Tho, now I want to go back to in-ground gardening! Would a cover crop help a garden bed? I've left the roots in last year, but they didn't decompose over winter. It was a mess.
Mark, I've been seeing a lot of information about comfrey tea. I was wondering what your thoughts are about this topic. What sort of biology can one gain from the addition of it to the soil? Could we get a video about comfrey?
I see the same thing. I never make a tea from it. Better yet I use a base ball size soil ball near the roots and place that in the mesh bag plus other thing to make my tea. You and i have plenty of bacteria in our soil we need the soil fungi.
💯 percent trying to grow soil and believe it will make for a 25 percent improvement as I have a better than average soil after starting here 5 years ago and I believe cover crops are what I need a lesson and you are the or one of the best, you might be number 1 to listen to. Got to finish this later Thanks
First time I learned about cover crops! We've been wrongly tilling all these years.
You explained this so clearly. Thank you!
And THANK YOU for understanding.
One of the best explanations about the benefits of cover cropping I've heard.
Thanks.
Wow, THANK YOU so very much. Have a great year.
I am in zone 7 and I use a mixed cover cropthat I order from Amazon. It is from Trueleaf market and has 10 types of cover crops. I ordered 5 lbs for $19 with free shipping. I used it in me raised beds last year and found so many worms in the spring when I cut it down an left it as mulch.
VERY Glad to hear this. THANK YOU for sharing.
Just bought it from amazon. Great price. THANK YOU for telling me.
I just ordered this. Going to try it in about 500 sq feet of raised beds.
Zone 6b Northeastern Pennsylvania
Aug 26th 2022
I've used winter rye with hairy vetch in the past and it's been amazing how it transforms soil. Specifically we transformed a lawn area. Did a great job. We let it grow about 6 feet which was really cool. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were absolutely nuts. But what are they growing? Fescue?
Do you til it when you plant your crops the next season?
@@lettyortiz9700 no tilling!
I can't recommend rye highly enough for this. It lets other plants grow around it, but it's capable of growing through wood chips, if you mulch with them, and degrades them insanely fast over the winter. Also, if you keep animals, rye really seems to like gentle grazing and seed foragers. It feeds my chickens very well, and squirrels also eat the seeds
THANK YOU so very much for sharing all this great information. Happy gardening
Can you plant winter cultures and not take rye down?
Yasssss! Thank you for this. I've got lots of rye berries, wood chips, and chickens so this is perfect!
Same experience here on Vancouver Island BC. Rye has worked well in a test I did.
Side note: Rye seed really attracts rats and never seems to stale in that regard. So I keep some for my traps, works better than peanut butter.
Thanks for reminding me! I'm going to be going to the store at lunch today and picking up some winter cover crop seeds! First time ever... And I'll be sure NOT to remove the roots of the summer's harvest. :)
Great to hear. Your soil will Thank You. Enjoy.
Fall cover crops are very important indeed. Seeds are my favorite investment! :) We get some snow here a few times each winter but grasses like rye still stay alive all winter long. We're also lucky to already have a lot of both red and white clover here so I just let that do what it does.
Right now (early April in zone 6b) I'm planning to also grow summertime cover crops in areas of our property that won't be used as gardens this year, but to get them ready for next fall's covers and then next spring's planting. I intend to use a lot of black oil sunflowers, okra and various beans, because the seeds are inexpensive and they grow all summer here. I've found that all three of those have strong roots that can dig into our heavy clay soil for me.
I want to try some buckwheat and alfalfa in a couple spots, too.
When your okra beans and sunflowers are done, do you leave them there to decompose?
@@SistersBreakingBad I usually leave the stalks standing over winter to provide habitat, then mow them down to become mulch in the spring. I leave the root systems in the ground to decompose.
I'm scared of using cover crops, as the one I did 2 years ago is still causing garden take-over. From tillage turnips to alfalfa and clover, they're STUBBORN in our sub tropical climate. You're so inspiring, I'm tempted to give it another go though
Put cardboard down
@@ralfnuggs165 Oh, yes we did that. I must say, though, the gardens with the clover problems power on, even without watering, when the other gardens look near neath!
@@modee-b9s Chopping the turnips down to the ground is easy with a shovel, but they re-shoot and grow fast. I do chop the lucerne and clover down to the roots and give them to the cows, but it's still planted out with things I don't want them or the chooks eating, lol. I'm learning to embrace it. Just sprinkled clover seeds all over a new garden to help suppress weeds and have a living mulch that improves soil life. It's the lucerne that's the worst - the ROOTS! It's like the roots go as deep and as strong as it grows above ground!
Hy verstaan die natuur ,die beginsel dat hy dit self prakties doen sé ook baie.
Greetings from northern/coastal Massachusetts zone 6A. I've been watching your videos since the beginning, and have not commented before this .. I'll just say that your demonstrations are second to none, and as a microbiologist/virologist - I absolutely love when you bust out your microscope! Winter rye is my go-to cover crop here. I wish you the very best and look forward to your future content. Cheers and blessings to you and your family! Eric
THANK YOU so very much for your kind words. I love how nature works and as a low income farmer it helps me so much to have nature help me to produce vegs. Have a great year ahead.
One of the best visuals you have given was the sponge. That made so much sense. You are a great teacher
OMG, thank you so much for this video. I've tried Austrian peas unsuccessfully three times. I will definitely try clover (rather than winter rye) to hopefully attract bees during summer months and keep the clover growing through the winter for the soil.
I leave all vegetable plant roots to over winter in the soil but of course they eventually decompose.
Again, thank you SO much.
Great to hear, THANK YOU , Happy Gardening
Thank you for this video. It's very helpful. I'm an amateur beginning gardener and love to learn to have success gardening. First time I learned about cover crops a few weeks ago and I'm trying out crimson clover in a front yard flower bed and mixed seeds in a backyard raised bed. The crimson clover is slow to germinate but the mixed seeds are growing, I love it. I will make tea fertilizer out of the clover like you explain, so thank you for this info!
Crimson clover is one of my favorites. I like to let some of it grow to full maturity so it drops seeds. If it starts to take over a bed, it's easy to terminate it by just cutting it down. Then use those clippings for fertilizer tea again or just lay it down as mulch.
For other areas like paths and lawns where you don't want it to grow long, white clover is great. It provides much of the same benefit, but it stays low to the ground. If you want to mow the area, just set your mower high and cut the grass, but the white clover will remain and keep pulling nitrogen into your soil all or most of the summer.
Thank you Mark for the in-depth video on cover crops. I need to hustle up & get mine in lolol 👵🏻👩🌾❣️
You can do it! Your soil will THANK YOU.
Thanks for a great video. Mark, you are a very good person. Thanks for wanting to help us learn about cover crops.
My pleasure!
Great video Mark. Can you help with a list of cover crops to use as companion crops and living mulch during the growing season? I used your strawberry and clover companion system with great success. Thinking of using sunflowers with and amongst vining crops next year.
Here is a list that you can choose from to help you. Look under endo mycorrhizal fungi. the top one on the list. www.rootnaturally.com/PlantListMycorrhizal.pdf
great info as always Mark. thank you. I did not know that a legume would not produce a nodule if the soil already had enough N.
That was taught to me about two years ago with new science info. THANK YOU.
I love the feel of winter rye... Looks good too!
I fully agree with you. Thanks
I don't do compost either I don't see the need to compound so much stuff in my garden( each to their own) I just throw home fertilizer. I live in zone 13 heat can get brutal in Phx. When I started gardening I didn't understand why I watered so much by evening it looks like I did not water at all. My soil was hard on the surface and moist few inches down. I did lots of research I realized i had to mulch to keep the surface soil moist. Every videos I watch everybody keeps saying COMPOST COMPOST and COMPOST. My mini garden thrives without Compost just fertilizer here and there. Thank you very informative.
I fully agree with you. Happy soil gardening.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! Newbie question here: you mentioned having a nice, thick mulch in place during the growing season, and then growing cover crops over fall/winter. But how do you sow the cover crop where a thick layer of mulch is already in place? It is just a matter of raking back all the mulch to sow the cover crops seeds? Thanks!
That beautiful thick mulch is almost gone by the end of the garden season. The soil biology eats it. I place about 8 inch's of leaves down. By Fall only 2 inch's is left. But YES. rake it back and plant away. Great question. THANK YOU.
@@iamorganicgardening Thank you again - so good to know. Wishing you a bountiful season!!!
This has been puzzling me too. I will be trying this and had already decided to pull back my mulch. Unfortunately here in arid So. Calif. it doesn't break down that much over the summer.
Very informative video Mark. Thank you for sharing your in depth knowledge and experience. Greatly appreciated. (New Zealand)
Here to help and share. THANK YOU.
Thank you i have been putting coffee grounds and my egg shells in the garden not knowing if this was ok
Question...so in spring when you go to plant your garden how do you get rid of all that clover and rye? Do you till?
How would one go about that in a no till garden? Was just going to cover my garden with billboard tarp after putting cow manure on.
Hello. Thanks for asking. You can always till the top 1 inch of your soil. I understand that there is lots of people that say no till but never say that you can till the top one inch. Why is that .. in nature the animals are always digging the top inch for worms, bugs etc. Plus the large animals walk and crush the ground also. But nature repairs this due to healthy soil microbes and you are also doing this once a year also. You can cut the cover crop down one inch below the soil to stop it from growing one month before planting. There is lots of people doing what you are doing with manure and a tarp. Microbes need air and water, the tarp stops that from happing. When does nature ever seal off with a non air moving tarp.
@@iamorganicgardening I wondered that exact thing! Im brand new to gardening and trying to gleen from many sources; some conflict so I try to ask. Your one of the few to take the time to reply....thank you so much!
@@iamorganicgardeningHow do you cut an inch below the soil?
Burdock and Thistle would work well to open up the ground and shade out weeds . Scattered throughout winter wheat would be great .
Mark I learned from you earlier about the huge roots of the sunflower and now I followed the sunflower 2 seasons without disturb the soil ( no tilting) it's the best result I've tried and I tested 6 other methods and less work and less water and definitely my most productive way for tomatoes
But I've been trying to raise the biggest sunflower I can and I layout the sunflower in a square each space where I plan to follow with the tomato seedlings and do follow the sunflower for 2 seasons of tomato seedlings.
You said use the medium sunflower I'm asking how do you space the sunflower plant?
Thanks
Every 6 inches apart.
@@iamorganicgardening will do one 50 ft row and a short 20 ft row both about 3 ft wide. I'm expecting great results. I'm actually harvesting extra sunflower seeds as I'm reading this thanks
Thanks
Dear Mark, thank you for your great videos. 2 questions - I have avoided winter rye as a cover crop because I have heard they end up competing with your crops? What is your experience? Also I bought different varieties of sunflower seeds as I was inspired by one of your previous videos. Now you say don't plant the larger sunflowers? Why? And what to do with those seeds? Also I am in zone 6B. I am home gardener - lots of fruit trees and berries and veggies and herbs. Thank you!
Awesome thanks so much, actually best video if seen on this. Starting to understand, I’m gonna do a clover and winter rye, hoping I’ll crimp the rye in the spring and plant my tomatos melons cucumbers there. Then the clover half put the rest like corn potato carrots what do you think of this?
Great information that I can use in my garden.
Very Nice to hear, Thanks
Very informative and helpful. Thank you!
This past winter was the first time I planted cover crop. I’m very happy with hairy fetch, pea, etc. The one that did best was winter rye. What should I do with the grass? Will it die off by itself or do I have to pull it?
Thank you for this information! I think I understand this a little better now. I have much to learn though
That is the best thing about gardening..Learning.
This was so helpful and informative! Thank you!
THANK YOU so very much. Enjoy
Very informative video. I’ve sowed fall/winter covered crops for many years and every spring I’ve cut, let it dry, and given some fresh greens to my chickens, and then tilled it over. My question is this: Instead of tilling the cover crop can I just cut it down and then sow beans? Also, if I don’t till it under can I plant tomatoes, peppers,etc…. I’m skeptical because doesn’t the cover crop continue to grow if it doesn’t get tilled over? Thanks for your time
YES, Never till. I know there is a lot of info that says to do that. IT IS WRONG. Why is it wrong? because to you are undoing the work the cover crop roots did all winter tilling you soil for free. The most important pf the cover is growing fungi in your soil to make you plants healthy. You need bacteria and fungi to be the same amount , equal with each other. Tilling kills that fungi. Thanks for asking
@@iamorganicgardening thanks for your response but I still have another doubt about not tilling. In the spring after the cover crop is cut won’t it continue to grow and therefore be difficult to sow seeds? Will that fall cover crop die off or will it continue to grow? What do we need to do? Continue cutting it throughout the planting season if it doesn’t die off and therefore not need to sow again in the fall? Thanks
Love love this is what I’m talking about.
Here to help and share. THANK YOU.
Thanks for this helpful info. I learned so much!
Glad it was helpful!
Hi Mark. I built a raised bed similar to what you showed (much lower but using a lot of wood chips, then leaves and grass clippings, a little high-clay soil. After 3 years I threw a bunch of sunflower seeds and some wildflower seed mix and I think I must have also thrown in buckwheat just to see if I could get it going as a growing medium. Last year when I tried just sunflower seeds, no luck at all. This year I got a ton of buckwheat but nothing else. Should we leave the roots in this fall or cut them off? Is there a chance the sunflowers might still come through?
Our country has got no frost and much rain. Only I can use barley because it only needs less water.
I have raised beds and last year was the first time I used cover crop of winter rye on a couple of the beds. Come spring I chopped off the top and let it lay on the soil and roots and put a black plastic tarp over it to kill it. It took a couple months for it to mulch but the soil was so rich, lots of worms. This year I have a bed that had garlic in it and once I harvested it in July I planted a cover crop of mostly clovers, vetch, peas and beans. I understood that they would winter kill but you are saying the clover will keep living through the winter ( I am in zone 8b). What do I have to do when I get ready to sow seeds in the spring of the clover is still growing in that bed?
All Clover is much easier to kill off in the spring time. If you wish you can just cut it off at soil level 2 weeks before you plant with a weed whacker. Or you can use the black plastic again. But it will be much quicker. Clover has much softer stems and leaves
At 13:41 you can see a root following a worm tunnel in the center of the screen. This is another anvantage of good worm activity in your soil
YES, Great eye. Those amazing worms.
Thank you so much for this! We bought an acreage with ten acres in alfalfa in very sandy soil. We've been told that we need to till and start over with a different crop for a season and replant alfalfa the year after. Can we just do a cover crop and save our hay field from being disked up?
Thanks Mark.
Always a pleasure to share... THANK YOU.
This was super helpful, thank you so much!
I'm so glad to hear that. Have a great week ahead.
I JUST found your channel! I have two smallish gardens and 3 raised beds. I have had chips down for 3 years now and they have broken down well. I’m in NE GA, red clay but soil isn’t bad because of everything I’ve done over the years. Question is about cover crops. IF I can find the seeds now and plant either the winter rye or the clover, how do I deal with it in the spring? I also have comfrey all around the gardens and have my collards and chard planted in a couple rows. Any advise is greatly appreciated… and tonight will be spent watching you videos. Thank you!
Sorry for the delay. The wood chips that are broken down will and good fungi to your soil, That a great way to start. To stop any cover crop in the spring cut it down just below soil level 30 days prior to planting your crop by seeds or transplants. Or you can place 5 inch's of fall leaves on top to smother it also. Your main goal is to have a balance of equal goal of fungi to bacteria ratio of 1: 1. Wood Chips help so very much due to the fungi eat it. Try to use a mulch as much as possible in the hot times of the year. Comfrey is great to take the soil near the plant and make a tea from it. It is filled with fantastic soil live that you can add to your garden. THANK YOU and Enjoy.
@@iamorganicgardening Reading this with interest. I live near the coast in CA. I am on my 4th crop of Sunflowers springing up from seed. I started a Back to Eden garden two years ago. My soil was covered with black plastic and rock. Could not find a worm. I have added lots of things to amend the soil do not till. I have used sunflowers and peas in areas of the garden.. The wood chips are finally breaking down and dirt in some areas is showing. Finally some of the native flower seeds, self sowing vegetables seeds, etc. are coming thru everywhere in various areas, especially where I bury my kitchen scrapes directly in the soil. Pumpkin, squash, etc. even in winter. it is like a seed factory. Many things coming up not sure what until they get taller. I am thinking I will have to thin plants out. I do have some raised beds mixed in with flat garden areas. I am thinking of doing more chop and drops, leaves, wood chips to build soil and easy of keeping weeds at bay. Does it mater what order I add things? Can I plant cover crops and plant kale, corn, vegetables among the cover crops? Must admit the wood chips in my garden made for easy maintenance as I got very few weeds. My front is native planting and the rest garden and fruit trees. Need it to look semi nice as I am in an HOA and everything is at the street. So far people like what I am doing and ask lots of questions, Also, our HOA has a garden plot. I am waiting for a space which may be fairly large. Many people rototill twice a year. I will not. I am thinking my best bet will be organic compost mixed with the dirt then plant a cover crop. Later cut the cover crop at ground level. It may be spring or summer before I get a plot. My main concern is keeping weeds down. Wood chips are hard to get into the community garden and I am dealing with some whose old ideas of gardening are bare dirt, rototilling, plant and have no cover over the ground. Just pull weeds. Straw they think would attract rats and mice although I use it in my garden with no problem, Any advice would help. Should I just chop and drop and put down leaves in between the areas I seed to keep down weeds? Thank you. Lori
Thank you very much, I will get on it
Please do! And HAPPY Easy Gardening
Is springs good time for cover crops? They can serve as green mulch and you can plant in them. They help protect plants like tomatoes
Any time of the yea is a good time. Each season has its own type to help the soil and the bees and good insects.
Learning alot.
Great. Me too. THANKS
So informative. Thank-you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
In zone 5a. Which ones will natural die off from the summer hear and self sow themselves for the fall? I know I'm asking a lot. But what if.
Try winter rye it works for me in Texas
@@gabbyrico4877 Thanks for the laugh. I'm looking at -20 degrees winters.
@@patkonelectric 😱🥶🥶🥶 lol typically we get to 20 or 15 last February we got -6
@@patkonelectric I’m in 🇨🇦 I know what you mean -30 an lower, just seed anything like rye, oats barley an cover your soil with leaves or wood chips
Crimson clover will flower in may and then turn brown and reseed itself in Sept. This will can due to weather each year.
When it is time to plant your garden, do you mow over the clover/rye then plant?
Really interesting I was under the impression that this "residue" at 12:02 was thatch and that creates a favorable environment for pests and disease, an unfavorable growing environment. The meaning behind that comment is in the example of something simple like grass, where learned about this in lawncare, it prevents a fuller/thicker growth of the medium that is attempting to be grown. I can see how this would be beneficial with plants like vegetables for the purpose of soil temperature. However, for cover crops, I am not so certain. What is your take on this?
Soil is a living thing with Billions of good soil microbes per tablespoon of soil. They need to eat. Mulch or Thatch will be eaten by them, In lawn care they teach you to by products that they sell you so they make money. They do this to farmers also. Nature does not need our help.
Trying your advice about sunflower 2ft then tomatoes plants, I like both and I'll see if both benefits
Thanks Mark.
Last season I mostly had sunflower in the location and yes I've noticed the sunflower massive root rootball.
Interested about more cover crops for Benefits
Glad to hear you saw this first hand. Enjoy.
How hard is it to kill offthe winter rye in the spring? & How?
Do we lightly till in the cover crop before planting garden. Maybe a stupid question but I have asked them before.😅
I have been trying to find someone who talks about how to water the cover crops in the winter if you don't get a lot of precipitation and it gets cold enough that you're concerned about freezing pipes
If it gets cold enough to freeze you do not have to water. The water in the frost and air is good enough for the cover crop. Do you have fog in the morning also?
Are cover crops using up nutrients in the soil that need to be replaced like the plants I grow in the summer?
No, they are not.
Im looking to plant a cover crop in the fall this year. I have heavy clay soil that really lacks nitrogen. Will a cover crop fix nitrogen deficiency or do I need to add nitrogen before planting the cover crop?
What about areas with dry winters? What type of cover crop would work with minimum watering?
Where do you Live?
I love your videos! Thank you!
I'm so glad!
Can you tell us how you make the microbe tea and how you use it?
I’m in zone 6b central wa in the woods at approximating 2400ft elevation and get about 3-4 feet of snow starting in December but sometimes November. Looking for advice on good cover crop and when to sow it as this is my first time growing a cover crop. Would I need to keep 3-4 feet of snow off the cover crop? They’ll be in raised beds this year and then next year after I’ve prepped an in-ground back to Eden style garden space I’ll do cover crops there I think too!
Thanks
I am interested in cover crops I live in zone 5b
My question is how do I terminate them in the spring. With out tilling . My garden is a back to Eden garden I have noticed that my vegetables all grow much better near my trees
I also have had great luck growing near raspberry blueberry and blackberry but not so great in large open areas . So you have thought me the importance of cover crops . How do I terminate wit out damage ?
I've found ryegrass to be pretty difficult to terminate, but clovers and wheat or oats are easy - just chop them down before they go to seed.
When is your first frost, please?
South New Jersey are October 16 to 31. Low dates in north Jersey
One of the old gardens I dug out and replaced the soil in was completely solid full of roots,. My guess is it had no worms or anything breaking them down. I wonder .... What was wrong with it. But I'm thinking it was just drained of nutes and dry for long periods so worms weren't doing their thing there
Maybe try to cover it with organic material like leaves/grass, then, cardboard and straw or leaves/grass then black plastic for a winter. That brings up the worm population and organic matter
One question: could wild herbs be used as cover crops? So leave all the weeds and eliminate them only in the holes in which I sow or transplant the vegetables? Thank you
Yes, But when you transplant you vegetables mulch around them in the wild herds so the roots of the transplants can grow.
Just found your channel. Very interesting info about the cover crops. What would you do if you want to plant in that field of rye? Would you till it? Thanks again
First dig a hole to see how hard the soil or clay is a foot deep. If very difficult to do you can plow ( it will not harm any microbes because their is only bacteria in the soil } Just the first time, no till in the future crops. Then spread seed ( winter rye it OK to plant in your area per seed company advice ) on top of soil . and rake in 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
Where can I get information about cover crops for NW Indiana - lots of frost to 3 feet in most winters.
Search on Google : Cover crops for sale near me? You might also have to type in state and zip code also. Then call there customer service and speak to them. You want something to buy/plant that the root lives over winter and regrows in the spring again. Enjoy.
I read sunflowers remove heavy metals in your soil
Yes , they are helpful. Thanks
You keep mentioning sand, silt and clay. Should I add some kitty litter to my Florida sand?
Have you tried Austrian Winter Pea? I've been sowing cover crops all month, first frost was supposed to be oct 5, maybe nov 5 this month.
Yes , love them. Thanks
Hello Mark... I was wondering...after you plant the winter rye, and BEFORE you plant your Spring veggies...are you supposed to then kill out the top of the rye and plant your seeds right into the soil? Or do I till the garden soil at this point and then plant the seeds? I'm not sure what to do after the cover crop and before the planting? Also, I live in central Oklahoma...not certain which cover crop would be best or how much to order? My garden is approx. 20 ft by 30 ft. And what do I do about bugs! I sprayed for bugs twice this year but now they are back again with a vengeance! Garden season is nearly over and I am not planting a Fall crop. (Actually, I've never even tried a Fall crop. Maybe I'm missing out? And if I planted a Fall crop....would I still have time to plant a cover crop? Thank you for a reply!
You could just chop & drop. I just broadcast red clover seeds and after they get a bit tall I dig them under.
So iam in S Tx my struggle is to grow in our garage summer I usually go with sweet potato as ground cover would u suggest something else?
I would stay with the sweet potato due to it short and vine like growth and loves heat a very little water. Thanks
mark
i planted winter rye in my raised beds last fall. i didnt have enough time to let it go to seed before it was time to plant the garden. that being said i found it difficult to terminate the rye. any suggestions?
Hello, just start 30 days before planting seeds, or transplants by laying sheets of cardboards wight down on top of the winter rye. Or you can cut the winter rye down a 1/2 inch below soil level to stop it. Thanks. Also if you can seed/plant earlier use clover instead of winter rye.
@@iamorganicgardening thanks, do you think i can plant clover right now in SE wis, or is it too late?
go to the cover crop chart on my facebook page from johnny seeds. Know your usda zone first. @@d65-m1x
This is the facebook link under photos: facebook.com/iamorganicgardening/photos/pb.100032330660931.-2207520000/911391899485568/?type=3
For sure It is wiser than composting! I Will do It!
That is great to hear. THANK YOU.
@@iamorganicgardening Thank YOU for this vídeo!
Why is it wiser than composting?
Don't forget to hit the like button.
@@nancyfahey7518 because the plants work for you in a more eficient way.
Hi I stay in Middle East Wr summer is wr I can't grow anything. Tep goes up above 100f for 3m + what can I use as cover crop in this situation?
Sudan Grass
17:57 how do i get any seed to take on my concrete- like clay ground?
In this case you till in the leaves as deep as you can using a 50 % leaves /50 % your soil mix . One time only and always keep the ground moist. Water is key keep the soil alive, do not let dry out at any time of the year
Tillers don't break the soil
I would buy a cover crop mix off of Amazon, spread the seed and cover with about an inch of so of hay/straw. Throw more cover crop seed down every week over top the hay like a succession planting, as well as keep it watered.
The hay/straw will keep the moisture on the ground and eventually the cover crop will break open your soil!
I thought tomatoes plants had to be removed because of disease? BTW we had some early blight this year.
When you make healthy soil you will not have that problem in the future.
@@iamorganicgardening thank you!
Speaking about cover crops, can weeds be used as a cover crop? After all the word "weeds' is just a word people sometimes apply to anything they "think" they don't want. It is similar to the word "pests" , some people just label all bugs as pests but the truth is many of those bugs are beneficial. Same thing will happen with the weeds i suspect, those people only labeling stuff they don't understand, but the truth is, most if not all weeds are beneficial most likely.
Put it this way, weeds grow where you leave the ground bare, it is a clue that nature knows what it is doing. So, why tear those out when they already wanta grow there, and grow there in abundance?
👍👍👍
THANK YOU. Have a great week ahead.
roots alone will not generate 25% air
I remember the local farmers in southern New Hampshire generally planted "winter rye" in the late fall every year, and often did crop rotation as well. We were taught these things in school in those days. (For the benefit of those of us who lacked some of the upscale amenities like indoor plumbing, we were also taught that the outhouse should always be down the hill from the well )
This was my 1st full year of backyard gardening. I am in the eastern panhandle of WV. I want to stay organic as much as possible but have hard clay & a million rocks to dig in so I am using raised beds & wicking tubs but would like to try fixing my soil. I grow mostly to support my local food bank. also have moles, rats, gophers & rabbits that I want to trap & put in a pen!!! I am composting & want worms too. I started too late last year to grow much. It was was disappointing but this past Spring, I was ready with seedlings that I grew myself. I am learning @ 75 years old! I had beautiful crops of tomatoes, peppers & many other things too. Some disappointments but lots of successes. I am learning lots & just planted my 1st cover crop (black eyed peas & Crimson Clover that I inoculated) in a small area that I had tried to grow green & wax beans in without much success. This area had been a flower bed that was well-mulched for years & so was a little easier to deal with. Love your information & help. Thanks so much!
I am so very happy for you and your garden. Green beans and peas will help your soil very much aa a food crop due to a great root system. If you can get your hands on use coffee and mix in your soil very helpful also. THANK YOU for sharing this with me, your a amazing gardener.
Your post inspires me!
@@sararampton654 thanks Sara, I am trying to make a difference in my little neighborhood. I started a gardening & composting group on my local Nextdoor group & lots of people bring me their leaves & stuff that would normally be left out @ the curb. If you don’t know about Nextdoor check it out! I try to educate people about growing their own food naturally!
I'm really lucky, because I have a native vetch that handles nitrogen mineralization very well if I just leave it alone. We also get very good cover of rye growing every year. My yard takes care of winter cover for me, and when I kill it in the spring and plant in it, everything does well. Also, oats have taken to being a consistent winter grass from when I fed chickens there. We had a cool, wet spring two years ago that killed it, but we had millet coming up for four years, but that grows in the summer, so it's not in the garden.
I am also a 78 year old woman who has a large garden that I grow for the food bank. I could share with my neighbors but they don’t offer to help!
We use Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), cow peas, alfalfa and comfrey (thanks to your prior suggestion) as our cover crops and we chop and drop for biomass, and green manure here in Arizona. Great information and thank you for sharing.
VERY NICE to hear. THANK YOU so much for sharing this.
How do you keep the Mexican sunflower from growing where you drop it? Turkscap hibiscus too is good but i had to kick it around a couple times cause is kept growing back.
I'm thinking now, probably cause we get so much rain in Florida.
Do you put them in the ground starting fall time? I live in So Cal and I wanted to do a mix of cover crops, but I got confused towards the end when he said that the roots will not go as deep 😢
Comfrey is very difficult to get rid of once planted. How do you kill it when you’re ready to plant your regular garden?
@charleskelm3703
Is your Comfrey the cultivar, Russian Bocking 14, that doesn't produce viable seeds? If not, that could be why you're fighting a losing battle with it. In this case, you want to prune every sign of flowering before it releases seed. Nip it in the bud.
To keep RussianBocking14 in check, each spring, you can slice straight down into the soil about 18 inches out around the Comfrey plants you want to keep. RB 14, reproduces by sending out runners, so cutting them off near the end of spring, will help to keep it in check.
Otherwise, my sheepish side wants to encourage you to start a Comfrey Root propagation business.😂
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience Mark. This is the most informative and insightful soil building video i have ever seen. “Living root over winter”, damn, I too wish I had known about this 10 years ago (in Zone 5a)!
My pleasure to share with you. Thank You for your kind words.
Thank for sharing this awesome and informative video with me...loved, loved, loved it... watched it a few times to get a good understanding of cover cropping... I just terminated buckwheat which I left on the soil but I don't know where to go from there....next time I will go with the winter rye because of its massive root system.
Will I have to cover the buckwheat with landscape fabric till next planting season?
I believe you could still plant a mix with only 2 months to grow before freezing as I have read that is the purpose of radish. It grows and gets killed in the fall and then rots and leaves a hole for water and air to enter your soil... It might be smaller than you want but it would still be beneficial... Same thing with planting sunflowers even though they might not have time to bloom, they could still help. I would plant them in a mix that contains winter rye which can take over when the frost sensitives die.
Great information!
It is a little late but us here in southern Wisconsin, Zone 5a, just planted our first crop of annual rye today. We hope that it will still be able to germinate and loosen/build the soil. This is our first year of starting a garden so we cannot wait for next to see what it has in store. Our neighbors think we are nuts with collecting as many leaves as we have. Thank you so much for so much valuable information you have provided through these episodes.
Our neighbors too... They're so nosy. We have neighbors on two sides of the house and thank God no neighbors in the back side except it's a wooded land and deer are mainly our neighbors from that side. But one of the neighbors is a retired elderly and she never leaves the house. So far she's made comments like "You have so many containers... What you're growing will be eaten up by deer" ... So I am thinking of setting up a wooden fence. Pretty sure she will make a comment and I will tell her it's for the deer but actually I want to block her view, she doesn't know we've already solved the deer issue haha... We also collect leaves, matter of fact today we just made a leaf mold. When we were creating our first pile of compost 6 weeks ago we could see neighbors looking .. So now I have my compost in containers.. but they can't get hot (maybe because of the cold weather, but it's frustrating)... I definitely need to build a fence, or a wall! LOL
I am in the Madison area and I collect multiple trailer loads of leaves in the fall and the following year always manage to run out. As a new gardener, I would highly encourage you to put some energy in creating leaf mold. Leaf mold has so many applications plus being a fungal decomposition you really can't screw it up, like traditional hot composting. Another resource I would recommend is Gardener Scott, he has many pertinent videos for new and experienced gardeners alike. Good luck in your first year garden!!!
I know the feeling lol
@@cheesekake1841 Compost needs mass, the small containers will not allow enough heat to be generated. Your neighbor is trying to tell you the small containers do not work and are ugly.
Enlightening lesson! I finally figured out what I really need to improve my clay soil, thank you! Your explanation is very clear!
Wonderful! Here to help and share. THANK YOU.
it works!!❤
I read that during the depression in the 30’s, the farmers had removed all the ground roots from under their crops because they were told to grow more and more. Nothing would grow anymore and that was the cause of all the dust everywhere. One time this dust went in a huge cloud from the middle of the country (Dust Bowl?) all the way to New York.
Thank You for sharing this.
This was our first garden season here in Minnesota. We used new Zealand white clover in 16 round raised beds as cover crop during the growing season, which was great (thanks for a great raised bed design!). Anyway, we are in zone 4A and I am wondering if there are any cover crops that will survive our cold winters. Or should we replant each year in early spring? Also, we are adding mulches leaves and mulched dead vegetable plants on top of the round beds for winter. I left the roots in the ground and just cut the tops. Are we on the right track?
I grow greens in my raised beds and have planted winter rye or med red clover between the rows. I keep the cover crops cut down to keep them from shading the greens until they get large enough to not be shaded. I try to keep roots in the ground at all times.❤
FANTASTIC... Thank You for sharing.
I’m new to your channel and I enjoy watching. Wow! It’s very interesting and I’ve learned so much! There’s a lot to absorb but I’m soaking it all in. My husband recently retired and is really enjoying getting into gardening. I will share your videos with him. They are very informative. Thank you
WOW. THANK YOU so very much. Please feel free to ask anything.
Can I use these tips in raised beds? I have 32 inch high raised beds. Zone 6b. New England area. 1st year gardener. Will the oats/rye/clover cover crop crowd out my plants next year? How do I prevent them from growing in the spring but get the benefit of them renewing the soil?
So I'm in a warmer climate, zone 9B and have been growing year round. In fall/winter I grow beets, radish, turnips carrots, mustard greens, lettuce, fava beans, peas, bok choy etc. Could I benifit from a cover crop, maybe alongside my cool weather crops. What would be the best way to go about this? Or are my cool whether crops essentially a cover crop?
Your cool crop is your cover crop. Except your beets and mustard. Garlic and onions , shallots would help alongside and not shade.
Brilliant video! Thank you! I live in N Scotland and classify myself as Zone 7. I do the no dig/no till method and often sow green manures, but have not come across sowing cover crops over the winter. This is just in time for me to do it this year!😊
You will LOVE the results. Enjoy.
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your experience! I'm new with cover crops and am wondering if I plant winter rye (zone 3) in the Fall, do I then pull out for Spring? Or do I plant my tomatoes and herbs around the cover crops? Not sure how this works?
Please watch this video. Click on this link: if you have more question please ask: th-cam.com/video/7cQMmwuAfaE/w-d-xo.html
6-7 months with no outside gardening?!?!?!
YIKES
We need to move you to GA......-KJ
I agree with you 100 %. Thank You
My father (old Nebraska farmer) always pointed out that rye as a cover crop is so beneficial because it has such a dense fibrous root mass. So much so that for every ton of green matter on the surface, there is 3 tons of fine brown matter below. This can break up hard pan, pull up nutrients from down deep. Most importantly the amount of earth worms skyrockets mixing the soil.
We would spot seed rye into the weakest soils in huge corn fields. Over many years these weak patches start to match the better soils around them.
Most other cover crops will only have 1-1.5 tons below the surface for each green ton above.
THANK YOU for sharing this. Sorghum Sudan grass is another great soil builder for summer cover crop.
What do you mean you're making a "tea" from your clover? As in a compost tea? I just started a comfrey one today. I'm a 7 yr "newbie" to gardening and I struggle. I'm in Central Saskatchewan Canada and it can get to MINUS 50F in the midwinter evenings. Luckily, the snow seems to protect things because I have loads of clover, plantain, chickweed and dandelion in my grass, atm. 🙂 I went in ground gardening in the beginning and did well for a year or two- other than a chickweed infestation. Well, then we had a super wet summer in year 3 and I switched to garden beds and have struggled ever since. But I think after watching your videos on soil health, that could be my issue. Tho, now I want to go back to in-ground gardening! Would a cover crop help a garden bed? I've left the roots in last year, but they didn't decompose over winter. It was a mess.
Great video. Showing roots help us to better understand!
Great, here to help and share. THANKS
Mark, I've been seeing a lot of information about comfrey tea. I was wondering what your thoughts are about this topic. What sort of biology can one gain from the addition of it to the soil? Could we get a video about comfrey?
I see the same thing. I never make a tea from it. Better yet I use a base ball size soil ball near the roots and place that in the mesh bag plus other thing to make my tea. You and i have plenty of bacteria in our soil we need the soil fungi.
So what do I do in the spring, cut off the tops to use as green manure and leave the roots in the ground? Plant around them? I have raised beds
Yes, you are 100% correct. Just cut 30 days before you plant so the roots die off. THANKS
💯 percent trying to grow soil and believe it will make for a 25 percent improvement as I have a better than average soil after starting here 5 years ago and I believe cover crops are what I need a lesson and you are the or one of the best, you might be number 1 to listen to.
Got to finish this later
Thanks
IF you have any question no matter how small . just ask away. THANK YOU for you kind words