The growing season is beginning
to wind down for our main season crops, but it is not time to quit for the
season! Now, you might be tired by this time in the season and feel that you
already have more than enough food from your garden preserved for the winter, but
I believe that the extra push now to plant some fall greens and prepare your
garden for the winter will be well worth the effort. Every season that I have worked with Grow
Appalachia, new families experiment with fall gardening and the use of simple
season extension strategies, such as row covers. It is exciting to see fresh
food long after summer has faded to fall.
Row Covers in use at PMSS during Fall 2009 |
Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky, the publication by UK Extension, gives the planting dates for fall
crops on page 15. Another wonderful resource is the Fall gardening guide that Southern Exposure
Seed Exchange puts out. Their list includes varieties that are especially
suited to fall gardening and lets you know down to what temperature each plant
can manage. While Southern Exposure is located in central Virginia, our average
first frost date is the same as theirs (October 15) and the planting dates
should be similar.
It's not too late to plant radishes! Look at these beauties Kathleen grew this spring. |
This time of the year is also the
time to start preparing your garden for the off season. If you aren’t planting
a fall garden, or are only using part of your plot for fall crops, it is time
to start cleaning the garden. It is important to remove spent plant debris and
weeds from the garden area. Removing weeds before they go to seed prevents more
weed seed from being added to the plot. Leaving old plants in the garden leaves
habitat for insect pests to overwinter and can contribute to fungal diseases if
the plants have been infected. Plants that are bug ridden or diseased should be
hauled off in the trash or burned – NOT COMPOSTED.
Once your garden is “clean”, it
is time to prepare for next year! Planting a cover crop is one of the best ways
to improve your garden for next season. I am huge fan of cover crops, and each
year more of the families in the PMSS Grow Appalachia project become fans as
well. Last season I posted about cover crops and Jessica at BDVP has also sung their praises .
Many plants can be used as a cover crop, as you can read in my post from last
season, but the three I have used the most with Grow Appalachia are Crimson
Clover, Rye, and Buckwheat.
Crimson Clover and Field Peas used as a Cover Crop in a PMSS Grow Appalachia garden. Look at those legumes fixing nitrogen! |
Crimson
Clover: Can
kill weeds if planted in early fall, especially if it is planted with oats or
rye. Clover is great at increasing the nitrogen content of your soil. Crimson
clover grows fast in cool fall and spring weather. Mow down the clover and turn
under after flowering (nitrogen fixation occurs then). Crop seeding rate is 1 lb per 1000ft²
broadcast. Or mix 1/3 clover and 2/3 rye or oats and broadcast.
Winter Rye: Rye is a cold tolerant and can germinate in
soil as cool as 34-40° F, making it a major fall-planted cover crop. Rye has a
well-developed fibrous root system that reduces leaching of soil nitrogen.
Plant in September through mid-October.
Broadcast 3-4 lbs per 1000ft². The
later in the season you plant rye, the more seed you will need to plant. You
may want to broadcast with clover.
Buckwheat: Buckwheat’s
rapid growth smothers most weeds. Buckwheat fits into the “green manure”
category of cover crops because of its rapid breakdown which releases nutrients
for the succeeding crop and fits into a tight vegetable rotation, such as when
a crop is harvested prior to mid-July and a succeeding crop is not scheduled
until fall. Buckwheat will be killed by winter weather and is usually not
planted as a fall cover crop, but during the summer months to improve soil. The
breakdown of buckwheat improves soil structure and moisture holding capacity.
If volunteer buckwheat is harmful in the succeeding crop, then the green manure
crop of buckwheat should be destroyed before a large number of seeds mature.
Buckwheat will germinate at temperatures ranging from 45° to 105°F. Broadcast 2
lbs per 1000ft².
Buckwheat blooming at PMSS during summer 2010 |
Some of the benefits of cover
cropping include:
- Improve soil quality: When the soil is allowed to lay bare
during the traditional non-gardening months the soil surface seals
together and water runs off during rains. Cover crops prevent this sealing
of the earth and improve the soil structure. The root establishment over
the winter months improves air and water infiltration into the soil, as
does the decomposition of the organic matter after it is turned under.
Earthworms and other soil organisms also thrive while the plants are
decomposing.
- Erosion Control: Cover crops hold the soil in place
during the late fall, winter, and early spring thus reducing erosion due
to wind and water coming into contact with the bare earth.
- Increase soil fertility: Legume cover crops add nitrogen to the
soil from the atmosphere due to their associations with nitrogen fixing
bacteria. Non-legume cover crops can recycle excess nitrogen, phosphorus,
and potassium from the previous crop to the following crop. Why not try
this instead of using the synthetic N-P-K fertilizer next spring?! When
cover crops are turned under and allowed to decompose they slowly release
the nutrients that they have taken up. This will add some micro nutrients
not usually added to the soil through traditional fertilization plans.
- Suppress weeds: A dense stand of cover crop will reduce
the amount of weeds that germinate in the fall due to shading. Some cover
crops also release chemicals into the soil that will suppress other plants
(weeds).
- Insect control: Beneficial insects may be attracted to
cover crops plantings, such as lady beetles or ground beetles that eat
pest insects. Flowering cover crops will also attract beneficial insects
- Subdue soil diseases and
pests: Cover crops support
beneficial soil microbes that can work against soil diseases and pests.
Some cover crops may also produce compounds that suppress these
problems.
This is an excellent post. Thank you.
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