Improve Garden Soil with Cover Crops
Saturday, October 20th, 2007By Valerie Palmer It is important to add organic matter to your soil everyyear - whether you’re using chemical fertilizers orgardening organically. Healthy soil is alive, actuallyteaming with earthworms and micro-organisms by the millionsthat have each got particular functions in making the soilfertile. If your garden soil is going to continue toproduce for you, it needs to be fed plenty of organicmaterial. Soil life eats and decomposes organic matter, which causesminerals to be released in a form that plant roots canabsorb. In addition to this fertilizing effect, all theorganic waste helps the texture of the soil - looseninghard-packed clay or binding loose, sandy soil. Humus givesthe soil its necessary sponge-like texture that allows aircirculation and moisture retention. For these beneficial processes to take place, the life insoil needs fresh fuel, (organic matter). Without thisfood, earthworms leave and microbes die, causing nutrientsto get locked away by soil particles, unavailable to theplants. Insect pests and diseases then attack the under-nourished and vulnerable plants. It doesn’t help to pouron the chemical fertilizers; they don’t contribute to aflourishing soil life or spongy soil texture. This is a simplification of a very complex natural processof soil chemistry that justifies in-depth study in its own.But the intention here is to give a basic idea of theabsolute necessity of a generous annual addition of organicmatter to all continuously used garden soil. Now, here aresome suggestions about how to feed the soil. Haul in compost, buying it in packaged form or by the yardfrom nurseries. Processors in your area (cider mills,canneries, etc.) often have organic material for thetaking. Farms nearby might welcome removal of animalmanures: horse, cattle, chicken, rabbit are all good. Ofcourse, chop garden residues and weeds into the soil afterthe crop is finished. Also chop in the hay or straw thatwas used as mulch. Gather leaves and lawn clippings anddig them in. Here’s the quickest, least hassle method for taking justabout any stretch of soil and turning it into excellentloam. Grow a cover-crop, or green manure, and simply tillit in. This practice, when done over time, actuallyreplenishes the top-soil instead of removing it withharvested crops. This is a particular benefit for gardenerswho are growing food in the same location over a period ofyears. Notes on using green manures: 1) You can grow green manures in a rotation (an earlygreen manure followed by a late-season planting of produce,or a late cover-crop following an early summer harvest likelettuce and peas) so that even if you have a small gardenyou will have a harvest crop as well as a cover-crop everyyear. 2) Using green manures can be done by any gardener with orwithout powered equipment. However, a roto-tiller is theeasiest method. If necessary, you can rent one. Here are the most common kinds of cover-crops for homeuse. A) Buckwheat: in addition to growing well even in poorsoil, it chokes out weeds. Sow buckwheat in summer, afterharvesting peas, etc. B) Ryegrass: this grows rapidly and is very hardy, addinga good amount of bulk. Best to choose annual varieties.Ryegrass is a good crop for late-summer since it dies backfor easy tilling in spring. C) Legumes (alfalfa, peas, vetch, soybeans, etc.): thesewill “fix” nitrogen from the air if you use “inoculated”seeds, attracting the right micro-organisms. Notice thatsome legumes are vegetables; giving both food and greenmanure from the same crop. In addition to its benefits to soil, there are many goodreasons to grow green manure. They help with weed control,bee attraction, and provide a beautiful green cover thatkeeps the garden looking nice right up to the time snowflies. Valerie Palmer, writer and master gardener, contributes toTLC Gardening, offering valuable free information to enhance your gardeningexperience. Also visit Full Storage or FB Hometo find more articles by Valerie Palmer. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Valerie_Palmer http://EzineArticles.com/?Improve-Garden-Soil-with-Cover-Crops&id=116899 phentermine 30mg without prescription phenteramine purchase phentermine no prescription buy phentermine online cod