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COVER CROPS= HEALTHY SOIL=HEALTHY FOOD
Cover crops are plants that are grown to protect and enrich the soil and enhance ecosystem services. They are not grown to be harvested but are usually cut down when the plant starts to flower while the roots are left undisturbed. They are grouped into four main categories: grasses, legumes, brassicas and boradleaves. Depening on the type of type of plant used, they can provide a variety of benefits. But remember: there are no quick fixes. Cover crops, like other healthy soils practices, usually need a long-term investment to achieve significant results.
Look What We're Growing
Planet Earth Observatory is conducting a multi-species cool season cover crop trial at the Huntington Ranch Experimental Garden. Click the button.
Source:Building Soils for Better Crops: Ecological Management for Healthy Soils, Chapter 10, Fred Magdoff, Harold van Es for SARE.
We Grow Cover Crops To...
Conserve Water
Decrease Compacted Soil
Conserve Water
Cover crops can help the soil hold more moistuere, They also help prevent erosion and keep surface and groundwater clean.
Add Nitrogen
Decrease Compacted Soil
Conserve Water
Legumes, red clover and hairy vetch and others have a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria that can replace or reduce the use of chemical fertilizers on farms.
Decrease Compacted Soil
Decrease Compacted Soil
Increase Soil Organic Matter
Raishdes, cereal rye, hairy vetch, and alfalfa are some of the strong rooted crops than that help aerate compacted soil.
Increase Soil Organic Matter
Increase Soil Organic Matter
Increase Soil Organic Matter
Some cover crops have more biomass below than above ground, providing an important source of organic material necessary for healthy soil.
Attract Beneficial Insects
Increase Soil Organic Matter
Attract Beneficial Insects
Cover crops can provide a habitat and food source or beneficial insects. They also provide a bridge for mychorrihizal fungi to survive between crop seasons.
Suppress Weeds
Increase Soil Organic Matter
Attract Beneficial Insects
Fast growing crops like buckwheat smother weeds. Buckwheat can also be intercropped with edibles.
… the popular mind is still fixed on the idea that a fertilizer is the panacea. —J.L. Hills, C.H, Jones and C. Cutler, 1908
quoted in Building Soils for Better Health, SARE/UDSA