Hello, I am doing a project on cover crops in gardens, and I was hoping that people would be able to help me out by answering these two quick questions: a) Do you use cover crops in your garden (if you have one)? b) Are you interested in learning more about cover crops? Any responses would be appreciated. Thank you!
I have a small garden. I use hand tools, a shovel and a hand trowel. I have a compost pile and I do use some cover crops. I'm not very scientific about it. I don't plan anything but rather use whatever seed I have on hand or can buy without a huge investment to add organic matter to my soil. Example: last year I planted collards in a 2' X 8' raised bed. When we had all the collards we wanted, I let them grow back after the last cutting. Then I put them in 3 five gallon buckets with little dish soap and water (to kill aphids). The next morning I chopped them up and put them back into the raised bed. They were followed by tomato plants. I've also planted pinto beans and agricultural mustard into raised beds and turned them back into the soil without harvesting anything. I live in the desert. So any organic matter I get into the soil is welcome. This year we haven't had a freeze yet but I know I won't get any "new" tomatoes. So I'm bringing in the green tomatoes now and will chop up the plants and put them right back into the beds.
