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| This mixed cover crop has been chopped and dropped in place. A weed eater or lawn mower can be used on larger areas |
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| Cover with mulch or compost |
Now is a good time to cut your cover crops in preparation for spring planting. Drop them in place and to speed up decomposition, cover with leaves, pine straw or compost. The finer they are chopped up, the faster they will decompose. When it’s time to plant in February (for green peas and potatoes) or March (for the rest of your spring crop) the cover crop should be mostly decomposed and already feeding the soil microbes that help your plants grow. Just move aside the remaining residue and mulch and insert your seeds or plants. The decomposing cover crop and mulch will also serve to warm and protect the tender germinating seeds and seedlings. The mix we used includes grains, peas, vetch, mustards, and radishes. This mixtures supplies nitrogen, discourages nematodes, and loosens soil, among other benefits.
Where you plant your cover crop makes a difference. The two cover crops pictured below were planted at approximately the same time with the same seed mix. Neither received any fertilizer or water other than rain. The fuller crop on the left was planted in an area with full sun, while the poorer one only receives sun in the latter part of the day. In addition the fuller crop is planted in an area where cover crops have been planted for several years and dropped in place while the poorer crop was planted in an area that used to be turf and has only been cultivated for a little over a year. This is the first cover crop that has been planted there. Both cover crops are providing benefits, and will be cut to decompose and enrich the area where they are planted.
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| Cover crop in full sun |
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| This planting only receives sun part of the day |
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