The Best Cover Crop Seeds for Home Vegetable Gardens
You may have heard local farmers talking about planting cover crop seeds between growing seasons. But did you know that even home gardens can benefit from cover crop seed? These specialized plants add soil nourishment and can control early weeds. For home gardeners growing edibles, cover crops are a “secret weapon.”
Choosing Cover Crop Seeds
Each cover crop species offers specific benefits. Among the advantages, they may offer are the ability to smother weeds, or to add various nutrients to the soil. Most also contribute “biomass” — the material that helps build up thin soils.
Although you may choose to interplant vegetables with low-growing cover crops, most home gardeners prefer to grow the crops on veggie beds between seasons. The crops then get turned into the soil with a hoe or a tiller, just before planting time. Here are some of the more popular cover crops for home gardens:
●Buckwheat
Buckwheat is a quick-growing cover crop that improves the tilth of your soil, while also adding potassium. Veggie gardeners often use this springtime cover crop to wipe out stubborn weeds in garden beds. Plant it in the spring after the last frost, and turn it into the soil after about 40 days.
●Red Clover
Many soils are lacking in nitrogen. If your plants tend to look yellowish and puny, poor nitrogen is a likely culprit. As a legume crop, red clover is prized for its ability to add nitrogen to poor soils. It also adds biomass to rocky or otherwise hard-to-till gardens. Gardeners often prefer to plant it in the fall, and work the crop into the soil the following spring, before planting.
●Winter Rye
Another useful fall-planted cover crop, winter rye adds biomass to compacted gardens. Of course, it also helps stop early spring weeds from gaining a foothold.
●Hairy Vetch
This fall-planted cover crop is useful for gardeners who need to improve both the fertility and the texture of the soil. Hairy vetch adds high amounts of nitrogen to the garden when it’s tilled into the soil in the spring. It also contributes huge amounts of biomass.
●Cow Peas
If you live in a warm climate (or can spare the patch during the summer months) and also have small livestock to feed, cowpeas may be your ideal cover crop. This legume crop builds nitrogen and also attracts beneficial insects. In addition, the legumes are edible.
Of course, Elk Mound Seed carries a much wider variety of cover crop seeds than the popular ones listed above. If you have specific needs, or just want more information, be sure to check out our online store for more information and more selections.
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