[Market-farming] Under Sow

Shawnee Flowerfarmer farmingflowers at hotmail.com
Sat Apr 19 19:49:54 EDT 2008


I always under sow with white Dutch clover....this drought tolerant perennial grows about 4-6 inches tall, fixes nitrogen which is available in small amounts to other crops throughout the growing season through the sloughing off of root cells.  It forms a living mulch with all the benefits of other mulches, can be disced, plowed, or tilled under at any time you need to do so.  A few plants will always survive to begin the mulch again.  It does self sow also.  The flowers are excellent bee/beneficial insect forage.  Yields of crop plants are not usually affected.  (You can google the science on that)  I use white Dutch clover between rows and paths also.  Over time, weeds are crowded out and I can mow the clover, if I wish, and let the clippings add a nitrogen source to the mulch.
 
White Dutch clover was formerly added to lawn seed mixtures until the common use of 2,4D classified it as a weed.  Actually, I would cheerfully kill off all the lawn grasses in favor of the accommodating, sustainable little clover and recycle my lawn mower.
 
Shawnee, organic since before it was cool to be so.  Zone 5> From: andrew.king2 at worldnet.att.net> To: market-farming at lists.ibiblio.org> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:11:53 -0400> Subject: [Market-farming] Under Sow> > Hi> > What would be the best thing I could use to under sow corn and sunflowers?> > Andy King> Sunflower King's Farm> http://www.sunflowerkingsfarm.com/> PA Zone 6> > > > _______________________________________________> Market-farming mailing list> Market-farming at lists.ibiblio.org> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming> 
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