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Post by theloamranger on Apr 15, 2023 21:30:58 GMT -5
Hello! Last year I bought winter rye and mammoth clover with the intention of planting them to overwinter and then till them into the ground in the spring... Unfortunately that never happened.  I ended up getting busy with life, and the weather got too poor to plant. Would I still be able to plant these now and till them in about 2 months, then transplant into it? I'm starting from fresh soil that has never been grown on which is why I wanted to do this back in the fall to get some organic matter, nutrients, root systems, etc going first to give plants the best chance. Thank you in advance |
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Post by breezygardener on Apr 15, 2023 21:57:22 GMT -5
Without knowing what growing zone/part-of-the-country your in, I'd still say to forget it for this year & plan on trying again with the cover crop this coming fall/winter.
For this season, without overtilling, just dig in as much organic matter/compost you can ostensibly get a hold of & just get growing.
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 15, 2023 22:52:38 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum! theloamranger, It would be great if you could add your location and growing zone so that the info is handy when answering questions. Click on your Profile>Edit Profile>Personal and then scroll down to Signature and enter your location and zone there. I agree it's hard to answer without knowing your location/growing zone/growing conditions. Most likely, the thing to do this year is to dig in crushed leaves, compost, coffee grounds grass clippings- whatever you have (even some bagged high quality compost can be beneficial)- and plant your starts. They will do pretty well and will do even better with each successive year. We are all always learning, experimenting ,succeeding and failing- it's part of gardening! And just an aside- as good as cover crops are, they aren't essential to growing vibrant plants. I have never grown a cover crop for my veggie garden. They get plenty of nutrients from adding organic matter. |
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Post by raphanus on Apr 18, 2023 15:29:21 GMT -5
While I’m a personally huge fan or cover cropping, I’ll be honest and say that 1) it isn’t necessary to have a great garden 2) most home gardeners don’t bother with it because it doesn’t always make sense when you only have a small amount of space to plant. Even in the coldest climates, with some slight effort (frost cloth, plastic low tunnels, cold frames, small greenhouse, etc) there is still usually some actual vegetable you could be growing, garlic, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, peas, spinach, collards, etc., so if you have limited space, plant a vegetable crop in the winter not a cover crop. But if you have more space than you need, cover crops really do improve soil quality and can reduce pest and disease pressure. I like diakons and crimson clover as cover crops, but it’s also great to plant mixes that have everything form oats and barley and radishes to clovers and vetches and Austrian winter peas, etc. It’s too late this year to worry about winter cover crops, just add some organic compost and manure to your soil, maybe some organic if fertilizer, and plant your summer garden now.
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I ended up getting busy with life, and the weather got too poor to plant.
