Cover Crops as Green Manure Improve your Soil EZ and Cheap in the Alberta Urban Garden
Tips, Tricks
On todays episode we are going to talk about Green manure or cover crops. Even though it is nice and warm outside it is time in Zone 3 to start thinking about the fall. As such we have a great opportunity to continue to build our soil helping both the plants this year and for years to come. Our first frost typically occurs in the last September or early October. going forward in we will simply refer to them as cover crops. when selecting cover crops you want to select species that fix nitrogen such as peas, clover or help keep weeks or disease at bay such as mustard, This practice is once of the great re-discovered pieces of old farm knowledge. cover crops serves a number of functions. It covers the soil preventing wind erosion and water loss through evaporation while fixing nitrogen by building the soils beneficial microbe populations. when the plants are killed it releases the nitrogen and provides more organic material further improving the soil and the beneficial organisms in the soil. When selecting a good green manure crop its important to start with nitrogen fixing or preventative disease fighting plants. Nitrogen fixing plants form a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen to more bio available forms. In return the bacteria get nutrients from the plant. disease fighting plants act in a number of ways typically pushing away or simply not attracting garden pests. You can use green manures any time of the growing season as long as you leave at least 6-8 weeks prior to killing the crop. Any shorter of a time will not allow you to get the best results. In my case I began with peas when I initially filled the beds and planted my perennials. you can plant cover crops in open patches of your garden or in-between already established crops allowing them to do their work during and after your crop is in there. in open areas I chose to use a little bit of potting soil to cover the severely degraded mulch layers and some used coffee grounds to give a little bit of plant available nutrition but to also attract the native earth worms and my red wigglers that are living in the area. They will bring more beneficial bacteria to further enhance the soil. In my case I have selected three varieties for my garden. I will be adding them to new garden beds around my new perennials. This should not only help my perennials but prepare the soil for next years companion crops in the same beds. I have selected two nitrogen fixing plants and one disease fighting plant. Winter field Peas, White dutch clover and White Mustrard. for the best results with any nitrogen fixing cover crop it is best to get an inoculate to cover the seeds in. This inoculate provides the nitrogen fixing bacteria directly where they will be needed. in my case I ordered too late in the season and was not able to get any. instead I used actively aerated compost tea containing compost and garden soil that already have these bacteria found in them. By creating the compost tea and watering in the seeds with it the bacteria should be there ready for the cover crops to sprout. over the next 6-8 weeks i will keep an eye on these plants. when they begin to flower they will either be killed by our first few frosts or I will chop and drop them prior to going to seed. Thank you very much for spending time with me today I appreciate it very much. I hope you have a fantastic day! Some of my favorite childhood memories are of gardening with my parents and brothers. This channel is about low cost organic urban gardening in zone 3. I am by no means an expert gardener however I love to share my experiments and journey garden year round. Please feel free to join the conversation and if you think you might like this channel subscribe. Have a great day! Check us out on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/stephenlegaree14 Webpage: www.albertaurbangarden.ca Google +: google.com/+StephenLegaree Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaUrbanGarden Twitter: https://twitter.com/northern1485 Pintrest: http://www.pinterest.com/ABurbanGarden/
Comments
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I live in zone 5b, and I want to have my cover crop grow in with my plants, so in between the rows I will have live clover and daikon radishes (an awesome cover crop). I want to grow purslane in the rows just for a little bit of ground cover although purslane isn't super 'covery'. It's my dream to be able to grow cover crops in with my plants. I'll have to do a lot of trimming, but I won't be crimping anything but where the plants will be growing.
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Hello. I'm a Vietnamese . How can I grow them in my country ? Thanks
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Sir, in one of your other videos, you recommended not to use compost tea whereas in this video you seem to be using it. Please advise.
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Great video thanks!
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very neat!, adding this to my list!. thanks for sharing.
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I knew you had a video!!!!
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what about the boogie brew and rock dust? Just kidding
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is there a low growing covercrop you recommend? maybe one that grows no more than 3 inches?
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Saw a few of your garden and really enjoyed it and it's very informative. I loved and subbed.
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Does white dutch clover over winter in zone 3? Here it's a perennial and can become a bit of a weed.
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Ah, so the end of September for Zone 2A is rather too late I guess. Next year I want to plant something in a piece of public soil - a corner bit if dirt on a boulevard, if the owner will allow it. Too late for cover crops now, eh? Should I be ripping out all the weeds now or sometime in the Spring?
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Do you have any data to back up the claim that the bacteria necessary for nitrogen fixation occur in compost? I've been cover cropping for decades and never heard that claim before.
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Another great soil clip Stephen..
Have found that the green manure crops do a great job of adding organic matter into the beds here.. Mainly using the marigolds & mustards for now but will start to use more leguminous ones once the root knot nematodes are under control.. -
This is a very interesting video with lots of helpful tips! I think I will plant peas again here in zone 7 for a fall crop to fix the nitrogen. Hope I don't get that white powder mildew I had when I planted them this spring. When you are speaking of mustard are you meaning mustard greens? I apologize for my rookie question here! lol
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I don't know much about cover crops. I can see my dad rolling his eyes in his head because I didn't pay attention when I was little LOL This is useful info...thanks Stephen.
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Definitely a much needed thing to do in any garden to improve soil quality and nutrients:)
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Excellent Stephen! I have always wanted to do a cover crop of alfalfa, but don't have a clue where to find it. Any other common plants that would work. I have a ton of older seeds that could be used for this. Thanks!
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Great tips, Stephen - will be planting some cover crops this fall as well. Oh boy, frost in 6-8 weeks? Wow!
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good info
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