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Encyclopedia Botanica Podcast, Episode 17: Cover Cropping

October 14, 2016 hilary dahl
Field Peas_Seattle Urban Farm Co.
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Cover cropping is the practice of growing a crop specifically to generate organic matter, protect the soil, and increase soil nutrient levels. On production farms, fields may be planted in cover crop for an entire season to allow the soil to rest and build back up nutrient stores which have been depleted by intensive plantings.

In this episode, we discuss how cover crops work and why they are an incredibly important and effective way to maintain soil health and capture soil on site, but also why the practice of cover cropping can be tricky to employ in a home garden.

HOW TO LISTEN:

  • Listen right now in your browser by clicking above.

  • Subscribe in iTunes (or your favorite podcast player) to have our podcasts sent directly to your device.

SHOW NOTES:

In this episode, we discuss:

  • What cover crops are and how they are used.

  • How to plant cover crops.

  • Ways in which cover cropping can backfire in a small garden.

Important Take-aways:

  • When it comes to protecting your soil over the winter, planting cover crops is one of the best things you can do. As they grow, the cover crops take up excess nutrients left in the soil, which prevents them from leaching away over the winter. The roots provide a haven for beneficial mycorrhizal fungi throughout the winter. Mycorrhizal fungi form a symbiotic relationship with the plants roots and help them absorb nutrients from the soil. When the cover crops are moved down and turned back into the soil, they release usable nutrients and help build up organic matter.

  • Many plant species can serve as cover crops. Your choice will vary based on your cover cropping goals, soil conditions, and the time of year.

  • Plan to turn in your cover crop about a month before you want to plant vegetables.

  • Due to the challenges of coordinating cover crop planting and decomposition schedules, they can create more problems in the home garden than they solve.

Buckwheat at our production farm. You can see the massive amount of organic matter that some cover crops produce, making it more difficult to turn into the soil using hand tools and working on a small backyard scale.

Buckwheat at our production farm. You can see the massive amount of organic matter that some cover crops produce, making it more difficult to turn into the soil using hand tools and working on a small backyard scale.

Heard on the Episode:

“Good soil structure has loft to it and is friable, it's what people call tilth! You need space and air between the soil particles for roots. Insects move through the soil creating passageways and roots follow those trails. It's like a deer moving through the woods creating pathways and then people end up following those pathways...” - Hilary Dahl

“My cover crop has definitely re-sprouted in the past...I’m always impressed at how resilient it is. You really need to stay on top of breaking it down.” - Kellie Phelan


Check out past episodes:
Feb 17, 2017
Episode 32: Potatoes
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 10, 2017
Episode 31: Peas!
Feb 10, 2017
Feb 10, 2017
Feb 3, 2017
Episode 30: Planning Your Annual Cut Flower Garden, Part 2.
Feb 3, 2017
Feb 3, 2017
Jan 27, 2017
Episode 29: Planning Your Annual Cut Flower Garden, Part 1
Jan 27, 2017
Jan 27, 2017
Jan 20, 2017
Episode 28: Smart Seed Ordering, Part 2
Jan 20, 2017
Jan 20, 2017
Jan 20, 2017
Episode 27: Smart Seed Ordering, Part 1
Jan 20, 2017
Jan 20, 2017
Dec 16, 2016
Episode 26: Crop Rotation
Dec 16, 2016
Dec 16, 2016
Dec 9, 2016
Episode 25: Growth Habit
Dec 9, 2016
Dec 9, 2016
Dec 2, 2016
Episode 24: Crop Lifespan
Dec 2, 2016
Dec 2, 2016
Episode 23: Thanksgiving
Nov 25, 2016
Episode 23: Thanksgiving
Nov 25, 2016
Nov 25, 2016

Like what you hear? Please share our podcast with a friend. Subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast player so you never miss a beat. And we'd really appreciate you showing us some love by leaving a rating and review on iTunes. 

Have a topic you'd like see us dig in to? Leave us a note in the comment section below or #EBpodcast on Instagram and Twitter!



Cover Cropping Tools We Recommend:

By McCrate, Colin, Halm, Brad
EARTHWAY PRODUCTS
The AMES Companies, Inc
Luster Leaf

Featured
Hilary Dahl
Hilary Dahl

Hilary Dahl is a co-owner of Seattle Urban Farm Company and host of the Encyclopedia Botanica podcast. Since 2010 Hilary Dahl has been helping beginning and experienced growers create beautiful and productive gardens. She has the unique experience of working in on a wide range of projects, from small backyard garden plots to multi-acre vegetable farms. She also works in her own garden every day after work. Hilary is also the creator of our podcast, the Encyclopedia Botanica, which she started as a way to share effective and efficient garden management techniques, and as a way to spread her love of growing food and flowers!

Colin McCrate
Colin McCrate

Colin McCrate has been growing food organically for over 25 years. He worked on a variety of small farms in the Midwest before moving to the west coast in 2003 to teach garden-based environmental education. He founded the Seattle Urban Farm Company in 2007 with the goal of applying years of horticultural and agricultural expertise to help aspiring growers get projects off the ground or more accurately; in the ground.

Since starting Seattle Urban Farm Co in 2007, he has helped guide hundreds of urban farmers through the design, construction and management of their own edible landscape. Colin is the author of three books; Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard(Mountaineers Books, 2012) and Grow More Food (Storey Publishing, 2022); and is a garden writer for the Seattle Times.

In Annual Vegetables, Fall, Soil Care, Podcast Tags cover cropping, cover crops, urban farm, urban farming, urban gardening, organic gardening, organic garden, vegetable gardening, vegetable gardening seattle, soil care, soil health, garden soil health, kitchen gardening
← Encyclopedia Botanica Podcast, Episode 18: Applying Compost to the Fall GardenEncyclopedia Botanica Podcast, Episode 16: The Organic Seed Alliance Field Day →
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