Cover Crops in the Garden

​2018 Upper Midwest Regional Master Gardener State Conference note highlights from Donna Amidon, MGV

Session:  Using Cover Crops in the Garden.  Anne Klodd (Assistant Extension Professor for Fruit and Vegetable Production, U of M.

Want to know more - listen to the Wisconsin Public Radio podcast online of Larry Meiller's "Garden Talk" show with guest UW-Extension Agriculture Development Agent, Kevin Schoessow talking about soil and cover crops.  

*Planting cover crops can improve a new or overused vegetable garden by adding nitrogen and microbes to the soil. 
*They can improve soil texture by breaking up compaction. 
*They can suppress weeds and after cutting them down can provide natural mulch between rows of vegetables.
*They can attract pollinators if they have flowers (ie clover, vetch, buckwheat).
*Rye establishes itself quickly and is a good cover crop to plant in the fall and overwinter.
*Cut or mow the crop before it seeds.
*Buckwheat can be a good early spring cover crop to plant before vegetables and it benefits the soil.

Problems that cover crops can help with:

• Compacted soil
• If you have many weeds use a high biomass species like rye, millet, hairy vetch, and canola between rows where vegetables will be.
• If squash flowers are not getting pollinated choose a flowering cover crop such as lacy phacelia, vetch, or alyssum to attract pollinators.
• If vegetables are low in nitrogen (leaves are turning yellow) plant clover, peas, vetch in the fall after harvesting vegetables and then till in the residue the next spring or summer.
• Cover crops can increase antimicrobial status in the soil if you have a soil born disease.

Some resources for cover crop seeds are: Johnny Seed Company, Seed Savers, and Mother Earth Nursery in Minneapolis.  Also UW-Extension's bulletin "Cover Crops for Home Gardens".