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livingontheland - [Livingontheland] Living mulches. Was: no-till?

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "Patricia Ruggiero" <ruggierop@earthlink.net>
  • To: "'Healthy soil and sustainable growing'" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Living mulches. Was: no-till?
  • Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:27:20 -0400

Harvey wrote:
> Low-growing Dutch white clover is a better choice where you want such a
> "living mulch." Won't work with every crop, of course. But it's terrific
> with trellised crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans) with a small
> footprint on the bed and most of the action well above the height of the
> DWC. Establishes quickly so suppresses weeds. One of my favorites.

Harvey, when you use Dutch white clover, do you plant *into* it as an
established cover, or *undersow* it a few weeks after planting your food
crop?

One of the things husband and I learned *after* our disastrous planting of
kale *into* clover is that it often makes sense to *undersow* the cover crop
about 4 wks *after* the food crop. We've tried that but not been satisfied
with the results. I think that's because our veg beds are well mulched, and
the cover crop seeds don't germinate and establish themselves very well
through a thick hay mulch.

Pat
Central Virginia, zone 7





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