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Cover crops of alfalfa

bushwhackxj

bushwhackxj

Ok, so ive been doing a little research on how to build up my soil/ rebuild my soil.

I'll give small idea of my situation. I just recently moved into a new house and have been offered an empty lot to grow my peppers and veggies in. Ive chopped,hacked,ripped,dug,torn, and tilled. Leaving approx. 60 ftx 60ft atleast. The soil left over has been rid of all things organic... and i plan to change that.

during this season i plan to grow some so called "cover crops" around everything to help build nutrition in my soil. does anyone do this? have any bright ideas? i know the legume family adds nitrogen to the soil, so im thinking of growing alfalfa everwhere the veggies arent. I want to find things that i can grow in my walking rows and all around that will help the soil, instead of depleting it. Also to be used as mulch for the actual growing rows.

any advice would be appreciated... as this is my first time turning "shart" into "shortbread"
thx in advance, cheers
 
ok, so far we have alfalfa and soy beans. thanks cory... both of which i plan on spreading, and both of which add nitrogen while growing and as mulch.... now can we find some other plants to throw in the mix to affix the other nutrients? any suggestions?

other N source ideas welcome also :)
 
I am very interested in this topic. I grew inoculated peas and fava beans recently. The peas slowly died from some kind of disease, but the favas were very robust and decomposed easily when I tilled it under. I was very pleased with the resulting nitrogen globs on the fava roots:

P1010056-2.jpg



Most of what I know about cover crops, I learned from reading the Peaceful Valley catalog. They have some cool multi purpose cover crop mixes. I'm using this one next, to both add nitrogen and organic matter. A mix like this might be good for your situation; it does the tilling for you!

I'm interested to see how your alfalfa turns out. I've been wanting to try growing that as well, but my Dad has a (irrational?) fear of it spreading seeds in the yard. If you plant it, will you post photos of the process?
 
Pash, i'll definately post my results. thanks for the info.... im still trying to source seeds for this project, so i dont even have alfalfa seeds yet. i will look into your links posted. awesome thank you

any P or K nutrient suggestions?
 
Cool thread. I've been wondering about this myself. Thanks for the link Pash. So, you can sow these seeds or cover crops in late October after the garden is down?
 
Grow any legumes like beans or peas for adding nitrogen. They are the only plants that take nitrogen from the air and transfer it to the soil through nitrogen fixation
 
I used white clover as a cover crop which also adds nitrogen. I picked clover because it doesn't get very tall like some other cover crops. My sandy-loam seems to be holding moisture longer this year which was one of my goals.
 
Sethsquatch said:
Cool thread. I've been wondering about this myself. Thanks for the link Pash. So, you can sow these seeds or cover crops in late October after the garden is down?
Click to expand...

yeah, my plan is to grow some in between my garden rows and around during the summer, to partially chop and mulch... as well as hopefully having a late crop completely throughout it for when my veggies begin to slow down for the year. So far im into either Alfalfa, Soy Bean or Clover for nitrogen (or all of the above :) ) .... but any suggestion for phosphorous and potassium ?
 
You could grow one summer cover crop such as buckwheat now and then in later summer put in non dormant alfalfa which is not winter hardy. In spring you can plant right into it. Territorial seeds has it. You don't want to over do the N plus it is ephemeral and can't be stored. Buckwheat would add a lot of organic matter but not as much N. I have also grown Big N Alfalfa but it does not winter kill and is extremely difficult to effectively turn under, even with a plow.
 
thanks for the advice minnie, im not sure that any alfalfa would survive my winters here in Canada. It will probably reach -25*C (-16*F). I will definately look into whether the alfalfa would die off on its own for me... Because your right... and Id rather not have to undergo the same amount of work as this year. I dont want to have to till again. only mulch and build my soil on top of what ive got it to now.

thanks again... ill do some more research.


EDIT: i just did some research and most alfalfa can survive -6*C (20*F) weather.. :!: thats crazy...but i believe it should all die off and mulch itself by spring in my weather still. Ive also been looking into some clovers and vetches.
 
Regular alfalfas would definitely survive. I can't get rid of the Big N alfalfa. Which is a good alfalfa for fast growing but it was bred in MN so it lasts in winter and gets really deep roots. The non dormant alfalfa is much better. You could plant right in it without tilling.
 
Little Minnie said:
Regular alfalfas would definitely survive. I can't get rid of the Big N alfalfa. Which is a good alfalfa for fast growing but it was bred in MN so it lasts in winter and gets really deep roots. The non dormant alfalfa is much better. You could plant right in it without tilling.
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i will keep an eye out for "non dormant" alfalfa, but havent found any sources in canada.. thanks for tip minnie... ive got my eyes peeled
 
I use Black Eye peas, I buy the biggest bag I can at the grocery store. After harvesting all the green and dried peas I want, I mow it down and turn it under next spring.. The peas I miss, turn to food for the wild life. As for Potassium, I use the ashes from my wood burnng stove conservatively in the garden. My garden is ove an acre, I live on Oklahoma, so not sure how Black eye peas would do in Cananda???
 
I tried black eyes this year for a cover crop but it was too early. Good to know the store ones do grow if it hadn't been so cold.
 
ok, so ill give you an update. Ive gotten some seeds in the mail today.
-Dutch Clover
-Crimson Clover
-Hairy Vetch
-Fava bean
-Soya bean

these came from "west coast seeds" and are catagorized under cover crops. Ill be trying these out shortly
 
I love hairy vetch because it is easier to get rid of than clover and alfalfa. It grows untended all around me with the winter rye. They are perennial in the fields right around my 1/2 acre. Yes clover and alfalfa can be tilled under really well and spring right back up.
 
bushwhackxj said:
yeah, my plan is to grow some in between my garden rows and around during the summer, to partially chop and mulch... as well as hopefully having a late crop completely throughout it for when my veggies begin to slow down for the year. So far im into either Alfalfa, Soy Bean or Clover for nitrogen (or all of the above :) ) .... but any suggestion for phosphorous and potassium ?
Click to expand...
Legumes like beans and peas add nitrogen to the soil but other cover crops do not create/add additional nutrients, they provide a cover crop as well as organic material
 
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