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RAPPAHANNOCK
GARDENER
Cover Your Garden
A cover crop-a temporary planting made to add organic matter to the soil can have many benefits for the home vegetable garden. Cover crops hold nitrogen and other plant foods that might be leached away during the winter. Their tremendous root systems loosen heavy soils, and the added humus will fyelp hold together the particles of sandy soils.
If you have plenty of garden space, a good plan is to put a third to a half of it into a cover crop each year, then alternate the cover crop with the vegetable planting. Keep in mind that the different kinds of roots do different kinds of jobs. Fine grass and clover roots are ideal for developing soil crumbs in the upper six to 12 inches of the garden. Alfalfa and sweet clover taproots extend deeper and when they die and rot, leave channels for air and water movement.
Annual rye. Abru/.zi rye, red clover and hairy vetch also are excellent choices for a winter cover. By being good cool season producers, any of them will grow quickly this fall. This provides excellent erosion control so the nutrients and organic matter won't wash away during fall and winter rains.
By fertilizing with one pound of 10-10-10 per 100 square feet, they will provide good top growth this fall.
Cover crops can be planted as early as the beginning of August, but should not be planted any later than Nov. 1. They should make some growth before hard frosts stop them.
They can even be started where the gardener has fall crops growing. Sow the cover crop seed between rows a month or less before the harvest is expected. This way the cover crop gets a good start but will not interfere with vegetable plant growth.
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