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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops benefit everyones soil

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops benefit everyones soil
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 12:20:47 -0700 (PDT)

Jerry,
 
You can use almost any annual or perennial as cover crop.
Some are easier to handle than others. For example, use
small grains (wheat, barley, rye, etc.). If you want to cut them
for broadcasting or transplanting a cash crop into, then you
need cut them after the seed pods (don't know what they
are called in English) start to form, or the wheat, etc., will
grow again, but before the seeds set (become hard) or
they will reseed. This gives you a window for cutting of
only a few days or a week perhaps.
 
If you use a legume (field peas, vetch, lupines, fava beans
etc.) things are easier, you can cut any time before the
seeds set, because the legume will not grow again after
cutting. Usually you cut during flowering because
N-fixing is greatest at that time.
 
A good combination is rye plus vetch. The rye will produce
plenty of root mass and the vetch will fix N. The vetch will
also be able to climb up the rye stalks.
 
Other plants commonly used as cover crops are: clover,
mustard, buckwheat, oil seed radish, alfa alfa, etc. You
better check with local farmers to find what works best
under your local conditions and what are the dates for
sowing, flowering, cutting, harvesting, etc.
 
Dieter Brand
Portugal

jerry walker <cubby149@vermontel.net> wrote:
IMHO you have to plant anual crops . they only grow for one year then die
problem I don't know which ones they are.
jerry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean"
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing"

Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops benefit everyones soil


> How do cover crops reconcile with no till practices? We tried them one
> year
> and harvested cover crop for the next few years.
>
> Dean
>
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