They protect moisture, but are useless for green manure since the dying plant is the nutrition for the new ones, they keep the dust down, feed the bees, or you if it is an edible cover crop...
The freezer is full! Will need to grow less next year.
darius - when I grew crimson clover, I pulled it up. If you have a large area, I guess you could mow it down.
I like Clover flowers on salad. Clover is edible. http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Edible_plants/RedClover/RedClover.html
Just for one bed I am going with Sunn Hemp as we are also going to plant out a mixed plot for the goats. And thanks for the info on purslane--I think I'll avoid that in my veg beds. For winter I'm looking at radish mixed w/annual rye and some vetch w/New Zealand white clover. The local Farmer's Co-op is recommending this mix. I don't know as much about cover crops to get too fancy. All in the veg beds will be tilled in in the spring for green manure and nitrogen. They recommended this mix specifically to prep a bed to plant out blueberries. Then they said I could come back in in the spring and plant the New Zealand white clover between the rows as a solid cover to help keep out the weeds and attract bennies like bees. My soil is slightly acid, so we will have to re-test in spring after I till to make sure I'm still good for the blueberries.
The soil test, I think, is good because it really helped me decide to do cover crops and tilling to get more organic matter and nutrients into the soil. I hope this will help attract and sustain more earth worms in my garden.
Got stung by a wasp this morning so I am feeling love for wasp-killing chemicals right now. I need to get back into some good organic soil care to return organic balance to my garden karma.
Darius, I don't think they're useless, like stated. They have the benefits you're aware of.
In permaculture I think of them as producing 'some' nitrogen by means of rapid life and death of the microbes that work together with nitrogen fixers. But no where near the amount of nitrogen capable as a turned green manure. A green manure crop should provide enough nitrogen to get another crop to the fruiting stage.
There is sort of an economics to it as well. When I was considering sudan grass, it can take as much out of the the soil as a corn crop. Not bad if I have another use for it, but since my main use was green manure and a chopped green mulch. It wasn't the thriftiest of choices.
Terri, I talked a good bit with the VZ county agent this spring, he seemed to back everything the co-op it telling you..good to know they have your back :0) Sorry about the wasp sting, ouch!
Yup, that cover crop is an awesome mix, thot blueberries liked slightly acid soil, purslane isn't the only one with long lived seeds, but for some folx that is a bonus. I love cover crops, but they go hand in hand to return to the soil what the previous plant used, because they use the opposite 'ingredients' . Fallow land doesn't actually regain nutrients very fast, that takes several years. But cover crops in balance are at least a managed care, as opposed to that abandoned weedy look- luck guys
Lynea, you know my remark was mostly in jest, although not the no-till part. I'm still doing a lot of chop and drop, even dropping the buckwheat I planted 3 years ago that still shows up here and there. I'm also planting more N-fixers.
Happy Birthday, Honeybee!!
Happy Birthday, HoneyBee. I hope you have a wonderful day.
Thanks, darius. I don't feel any older. LOL
Solace - thanks for the birthday wish. I'm just spending a quiet day at home.
terri_emory - blueberries like a very acid soil. If I remember correctly the ph should be somewhere around 4.5
Honeybee, hope you have a wonderful birthday! Anything special planned?
Not yet, but I planted some N-fixers (legumes) this year not for food but for N. There's such a fine line in N-fixing trees and adding too much N. Plus some of the pioneers (as you said) are invaders. I'm looking into alders, can't find my list at the moment.
Happy birthday Bee, chuckl, you only feel it after the fact, I found Grand Saline in my atlas, it is kinda dry there, but on the other hand, some of the sweetest water is bottled in Hawkins, close to there, little hills and yeah, elms, oaks, pecans, hickory and walnuts grow well, never thot of trees fixing N, most of the trees I know want N. Stay cool, dog days aren't here yet.
Ash? Maybe?
Thanks Linda and Cocoa.
Nothing special planned. My hubby purchased a bug zapper for me. Sounds like a weird gift, but it's what I asked for. Lookout squash bugs - here I come!
Thanks, kittriana.
Several leguminous (is that a word?) trees grow in South Florida. The prettiest of which (in my opinion) is the Royal Poinciana. I grew one in my front yard from a seed whenI lived in Palm Beach County.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Poinciana
Yes, Happy B-Day Honeybee! And many happy returns!
Thanks terri_emory - yup, I plan to be around for many more years.
My neighbor just dropped by with a huge hanging basket of flowers.
Oh, Honeybee, I am so sorry I missed your birthday yesterday! I was in and out up to my eyeballs with two home improvement projects going at once!
Happy Belated Birthday, hugs and kisses!
Gymgirl
Thanks, Linda.
(I think I called Greenhouse Gal Linda in a previous post, sorry about that GG)
Not a problem, Honeybee! I've done the same thing!