Cover Cropping for Soil Health | No-Till and Low-Till Strategies

In Today's video we're discussing cover cropping, primarily on a small scale with no-till and low till methods.
We talk about: what is milk stage in rye, how to terminate cover crops, how to choose a cover crop. how to establish and sow cover crops and more.
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Citations:
Effects of compaction and cover crops on soil least limiting water range and air permeability: www.sciencedirect.com/science...
What Is Biofumigation and Does It Have Potential to Be Used In Pacific Northwest Red Raspberry Production Systems?
extension.wsu.edu/wam/what-is...
Mustard for Biofumigation Article: www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/D...
The Concentration of 2-Propenyl Glucosinolate in Biofumigant Crops Influences Their Anti-Fungal Activity (In-Vitro) against Soil-Borne Pathogens
www.scirp.org/(S(lz5mqp453eds...
Cover Crop Species Composition Alters the Soil Bacterial Community in a Continuous Pepper Cropping System www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
Characterizing changes in soil microbiome abundance and diversity due to different cover crop techniques
journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
Jadam Books:
amzn.to/3Oqy206
and
amzn.to/42R1v7S
Citations:
What Is Regenerative Agriculture? A Review of Scholar and Practitioner Definitions Based on Processes and Outcomes: www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
Biochar Integrated Nutrient Application Improves Crop Productivity, Sustainability and Profitability of Maize-Wheat Cropping System: www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2232
Biochar for crop production: potential benefits and risks: link.springer.com/article/10....
A Review on Current Status of Biochar Uses in Agriculture: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

[@paulmcwhorter]

I am learning a lot from these videos. I live in a slum in East Africa, and am trying to do sustainable agriculture demonstration projects for the indigenous people. Lots of challenges to face here. The soil is compacted clay, like solid concrete, so migration to a no-till strategy is challenging. Secondly, you can not run down to Home Depot and pick up a bag of this or that, or a tool or whatever. Being on the equator means a year round growing season, but that also means there is not cold weather to kill off bugs and pests. Soil amendments and so forth have to be locally produced, which is a challenge, as a sustenance farmer barely surviving is hesitant to plant less corn in order to grow mulch, or is hesitant to plant a cover crop instead of a food crop. We have found integrating animals into the cycle helps. Raising rabbits encourages a farmer to plant some grasses for rabbit food, which can then also serve as a mulch or cover crop. The rabbit poop serves as a fertilizer and soil amendment, and the waste feed from the rabbit cage can also be applied as a mulch. The rabbit urine is a natural pesticide and foliar fertilizer. People will start raising rabbits, as they see it as both an income generator and a food generator. Many, many challenges here, but I continue to learn from your videos.

[@XxlethalDJxX]

Start adding in organic matter like mushroom substrate and compost to the soil. Add in gypsum, micronutrients and wood dust.

[@XxlethalDJxX]

Also focus on farming on raised beds from your plot.

[@tealkerberus748]

That's a challenging situation, but kudos on looking for solutions that work where you are! If you can get any nitrogen-fixing trees to grow, they can produce a lot of organic matter from a relatively small amount of land taken away from a crop. Whether you want the organic matter as mulch or as rabbit food, it's going to help your land either way, and meanwhile the roots are loosening the soil and fixing nitrogen so you can grow grasses underneath them. If it's a tree with an edible seed, that becomes another harvest. The next best option after trees would be any of the deep tap root plants shaped approximately like a carrot - you'd know better than I do what grows in your climate. Deep tap roots break open the soil so that water and other plants' roots can get in too, but without any of the damage that tilling does. Do your corn farmers use the Three Sisters guild? That's a neat way to get more yields out of a corn crop, and enough beans in the mix will add nitrogen back to the soil to make the corn grow better.

[@karasterling1279]

Good luck

[@va3svd]

I congratulate you for undertaking such a great project. Best of luck to you! My biggest concern would be that your efforts are fruitful and your work is expanding, and then the government expropriates your property as part of “land reform”.

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

Nice touch to have the sponsor do their own ad so we saw the who & not just the product😊

[@notillgrowers]

Awe, that's awesome to hear. Thanks for the feedback!

[@making.fronds]

I love the method of cover cropping. I’m starting new gardens on dense clay. My initial cover is peas and giant carrots! I’ve never heard of anyone using carrots as cover crops? I let a few of my giants go to seed last year so have literally thousands of seeds. They are really hardy, don’t need much in terms of fertiliser, and somehow accept the challenge of getting as deep into the clay as possible. Then I run my chickens over them, who eat the greens and tops, and then (most of) the roots decay into the soil. Aeration and microbial feeding. Any left over I can pull and give to the horses, or eat. Only on a small scale, but gosh does it work well!! Hope this helps a fellow nerd. You’re awesome!

[@psuedoFRE4K]

legend

[@farhanibrahim5925]

wow good idea i will use it too

[@theburnhams2925]

Excellent! It seems you've "closed the circle" with your strategy. The chickens are key (if you can stand havin' 'em...)

[@amy3458]

@@theburnhams2925If you can stand having chickens? Are you kidding me? Chickens are awesome! ❤️

[@lornapenn-chester6867]

Walk of shame!! 😂 You just saved hundreds of people from making that mistake. You’re a superhero! ❤

[@rickthelian2215]

Hang your head up, we learn from our mistakes😉🇦🇺

[@mannersmatter6773]

I love the idea of planting food for cover crops especially root veggies where you can chop and drop the tops of the ones you take to eat. Great idea

[@lisamcdonald1415]

One thing I have always respected about you is that you share the facts. Wins or losses your honest and makes the rest of us feel more human when we have fails. 4 years in we have fails weekly which can be very discouraging it’s nice to know a pro like yourself can have failures too. Keep it up your awesome ❤

[@MistressOP]

Yeah, we harvest the top part of our daikon radish from our cover crop then cut it and mix it with an Asian veg green mix. Then sell it with rotisserie chicken and the mix. Pickup only. We also do a we also do a soul food mix greens, mac, rotisserie pick up only. It depends really because sometimes deer can get into your cover crop. If you end up doing this and you have deer pressure and are unsure if you recently had some in your field for food safety setup a trail cam. The best part if you put the trail camera on wireless it can dump the pictures into a hard drive you can check later. For dates and times of what visited the field. I always wish that folks would get together and create an OS for small and medium farms that is open OS. So it can feed the world better. Because if John Deer or someone else does it. Gonna cost an arm and a leg and be uncost effective for so many farmers. Really covercrops are so under explored by most of farming. Here in Cali you see so many farmers who's fields are desprate for cover crops. But so many farmers don't own the land they produce on. Which means you got renter mentality on those fields. Which basically hurts the whole state in water retention. The whole state should be cover cropping no dig mulching up extreme but land is so expensive and the people who own nickle and dime the people who produce and there's just so many hands in the pot. Not the people who got a hand in the pot are doing the sweat work.

[@BayouBlssm2]

No-Till Grower virgin here... you had me at "nerds" then laid me out at "citations," your sense of humor was the cover crop on my fields - I'm in love!

[@oldman1111]

My favorite part of my KZbin experience is another person calling me a nerd when I watch farming videos. I did this during my time in the military. I always called my Soldiers nerds out of love and respect for what they did.

[@tealkerberus748]

If you haven't nerded out over something you're passionate about, have you really lived?

[@oldman1111]

Exactly!

[@1voluntaryist]

After 30 years of composting for mulching my annuals I stumbled on a quicker, easier, richer mulch: SHREDDED LEAVES. My neighbors trees dropped too many leaves for her to manage in the fall so I volunteered to "clean up". I bought an electric leaf vac/shredder, 15-1. It came with a canvas bag which I slung over my shoulder, requiring frequent stops to empty. (This would have gone much quicker if I had help from someone pushing a large cart to trap the mulch.) I put the mulch in my 140 sq. foot, raised bed. It slowly, over a few winter months, broke down, leaving dark soil. I will NEVER compost again. Remember: Keep a cover crop, even if it's just weeds. Why? Building soil is done by ROOTS IN THE GROUND. Observe nature, learn, follow. Don't make work by fighting nature or following traditional farming/gardening, e.g., turning over the soil. Does nature plow? Hell no!

[@_Chessa_]

I just did a cover crop. XD I used every plant you talked about. Hairyvetch rye, buckwheat, Red Clover, white clover, brassicas, literally everything in my small backyard weed paradise! I’m so happy about my beautiful weed garden and it’s turning into a beautiful meadow now full of flowers and beautiful and cover crops! I’m going to let it go wild for the summer! To help the bugs out this year.

[@loisthomas8764]

Would love to know the Brassicas you used if you see this. Enjoying these videos as well just getting started.

[@_Chessa_]

@@loisthomas8764 Yes, the Brassicas are still going very strong and huge and helping feed the hungry caterpillars that can eat the leaves within a day. Shaded out some other plants but still stayed in the space it grew and does get eaten quick here. Along with the lemon balm staying strong and some parsley and zinnias and clovers. Everything else died in the summer heat unfortunately. Buckwheat went to seed too early and all died in the hot sun. It’s still become the prettiest little corner in the garden and a butterfly and lizard attraction in the entire garden. I’ve never seen so many different butterflies visit before planting all of this! I’m going to grow some alfalfa in the winter for more butterflies! I live in a sunny place in zone 7 :) And they managed to grow so complimentary and beautifully with the weeds together, the spiders already have little homes in the weeds to eat the nasty little bugs too! :D it’s a true tiny meadow it looks a bit overgrown though with the tall tree weeds!

[@jvin248]

Yesterday I used the 'standing-bar-crimp' method on winter rye yesterday, then a manual post hole shovel to cut windows through the rye mat and transplant into those windows. Basically treated the flattened rye like people use black plastic weed barrier. Looked nice, I'll see how it performs.

[@lenamccubbin1068]

My garden was flooded by a heavy spring rain which laid on the surface for several days, compacting the soil. I sowed some peas and oats April 15th. By June 15th, the area of the cover crop was very crumbly soil while 6 inches away was hard as a rock. I’m surprised the soil changed that quickly.

[@user-cs1gc5wk2r]

By far the Best talk ive heard on cover crops

[@mariodicostanzo8212]

Your crops look absolutely stunning

[@rosannaspeller9408]

Yesssss “nap seed” 🙌🏻

[@grantraynard]

Thanks for showing the solarization experience.

[@johncourtneidge]

Thank-you!

[@B30pt87]

Excellent video. Thanks!

[@questforbalance]

This worth waiting for the end. Good job over all

[@1stanleygirl]

Good, quality information as usual - thank you!

[@mirsidorov5112]

Thanky mankies to you for your time and effort in giving us noobs all this awesome info

[@davidvickers2955]

Hey, I received your book today as a birthday present, yeah, I asked for it and got it. Very impressed with the quality of the book. Very nice presentation, I look forward to diving in, I think your way was the correct way all along, so thank you for sharing. Thanks for sharing.

[@lauralane586]

Off topic, but do you grow strawberries? Could you do a video on no till and companion approaches to strawberries. Also Id love to see more on perrenial crops. Thanks! Love your work.

[@J1776.]

Just purchased your book! So excited to learn more 😁

[@notillgrowers]

Amazing, thank you!

[@mermaid3152]

I've been learning a lot from your videos and I really like how you match the video footage with what you're talking about. You go to the trouble of showing us footage that we can see and learn from as well as the words. I'm sure that's Extra work!

[@lynnjones1125]

Thank you. Just harvested my first Buckwheat crop

[@dlyadushi1001]

This is the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen my absolute dream is to be able to create something that beautiful

[@user-od8qj3be8m]

Learning learning learning Thank You!

[@JulianJP21]

Always very interesting 💪👍 thank you!

[@gabrielferrer3205]

It will be interesting to apply no till farming on tropical farms.

[@lmclrain]

I have been feding my lemon tree, whatever I prune from it cut into small pieces and mulch, so far it is doing great, I also give it from time to time organic laundry soap water, and the tree is better than ever, considering it was an old tree which used not to produce anything for years, I think I am in a good way. I now plan to feed it weeds also turned to small pieces once dried.

[@ElderandOakFarm]

I am one of those people that are afraid to sow a bed with cover crops, for the fear that I'm going to be left with a bed full of some sort of plant matter, for months & months & months, & have a hard time getting it to break down & then having to pull all the plants up... lol. I see you mowing some of these cover crops & it looks like a bed of thick grass & I have this fear that it would just regrow, or just take way too long to break down & I would have trouble getting anything to grow in it. I would love to see a video where you film what it looks like during the entire process, when it's time to terminate it- what tye bed looks like right after you crimp or mow, then an update each week until it has broken down enough for planting... I know that would probably be a time consuming video but I think it'd really help those of us that are afraid to start cover cropping for the fear that were just going to basically cause a "weed" problem in our beds. I bought a pea & oat mix, but have been afraid to try it 😩

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

There's no such thing as failure unless you're so afraid to fail you fail to take action. Try a small area that you're willing to accept the worst of your fears happening to.

[@loisthomas8764]

I share the same fear opening that Genie Bottle.@@TheRealHonestInquiry

[@alveygardens]

Thanks for another awesome informative video. I am preparing to cover crop about an acre after using an old cultivator. And trying to remove a ton of Johnson grass. When that is done, tilling in several truck loads of leaf mold for organic matter. We are in southern indiana so just hard clay. Finally cover cropping a mix. Terminating and planting fig trees, black berries, and raspberries.

[@richy7tube]

I think the whole cover crop process is starting to sink in for me. This video was very helpful!

[@patrickwelby9]

Left for work yesterday morning and forgot to put my tobacco starts in the shady area. I wont have to worry about growing much tobacco this year now lol. Mistakes like this make me better. I will not make that mistake again. Thank you for your awesome content!!!

[@lesliehollands2689]

I've heard when solarizing an area with clear plastic. One must water the area until maximum holding capacity before tarping.

[@crisregardless5613]

This was going to be my suggestion as well!

[@douglasnevill1273]

Thanks for the great content

[@chrisshepherd8708]

I have been using the embryo generator to strip the existing growth with a soaked whole seed reseeding/feeding regiment. I think it's great as a fertilizer seeding program.

[@candiwallace6605]

Morning cheers to great information ❤☕🌱

[@conniewojahn6445]

Another great video. Thanks!

[@Brad-rr1ew]

Your the best love your videos!!!

[@emilbengtsson9415]

You, are awesome..! 👍😉

[@notillgrowers]

Amazing thank you!

[@koreanature]

My best friend, Great... We liked and enjoyed to the end. Thanks Have a happy day! Keep it up! +thumb up3!

[@IfYouGiveAGirlAnAcre]

What a cool experiment! It succeeded in its job but added an unexpected problem. Now we know. Thank you!

[@expat2023]

Super thanks!

[@bobbiejeanesser864]

I can't wait to try these methods!

[@JamesCooker-no8ud]

Hello How are you doing today

[@insidethegardenwall22]

I’m pretty sure I did what no one has done before. I used my own parsnip seeds from my earlier planting and used that as a overwintering spring cover crop. Germination was excellent and I just cut them off barely beneath soil level when I planted various vegetables in April and May. It’s a fun experiment. They have deep tap roots and somewhat easy to manage in our small garden. They don’t die or rot yet but I guess they’ll eventually lose their energy, not sure.

[@michellecannon5673]

You are Awesome!

[@lauragillespie189]

I do so enjoy your videos, Farmer Jesse! Going to try sudan grass and buckwheat as cover crops, since I already have these seeds. Buckwheat is so lovely in bloom and pollinators love it. I'm in middle Georgia, zone 8.

[@notillgrowers]

Just watch for when they put on seeds because it can become a weed pretty quick. Good to mow them at that stage--the Sudan can then grow back.

[@thegoodoldways]

Good info. Thank you so much.

[@LindaYoshi]

Thank you the Adult Education on peas and oats. You make my (gardening) dreams come true 😂 🎶 I’ve learned a lot from your videos. New binge watcher here!

[@jin8339]

Jessie, I learn so much from you. Hurricane Ian hit Florida (2022) makes me think of my backyard and health of my soil. I had dead soil , eroded of all the nutrients and compacted. I have been to DOA but I did not like their suggestions Bec it was their views not what I wanted. All the grass was killed and tons of weeds growing in spaces in exchange. DOA wants me to spray Roundup to kill weeds and grow either mimosa and yellow flowers grass/ plants ( peanuts family) . They suggest to build boxes above ground all over by backyard. I have a few but I don't want all over my backyard to look so ugly like above ground coffins . You must be laughing right !! 😂 So, I do really appreciate all your videos and educate many of us who are not farmers but homeowners. Thank you so , so, so, so, soooo much.❤❤❤ Since winter I have grown buckwheat and winter Rye now I have to think about summer crops. It is good to know that even a PRO can make mistakes so I am doing it on my own with your guide on videos. Thank you again !

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

I wouldn't trust anyone who tells me to spray Roundup. As he says dogma won't help you in farming and that right there is dogma straight from the Poison Cartel. Why don't you just cardboard/6" woodchips or other mulch to smother the weeds?

[@jin8339]

@@TheRealHonestInquiry That's exactly what I did..layer with cardboards and bales of hay. And during winter I did garden mix cover crops and other areas I did winter Rye. So far so good. Yes, I was very disappointed from Master gardener 's ideas. Thank you ! 🙏🌻🌹❤️

[@loisthomas8764]

Just so you know Roundup stays in the ground at least a year, my neighbor killed part of my hedge using it, and continues to spray for weeds under the hedge.

[@davidwalters9462]

Reason: to protect the soil, secondly, to provide forage for cattle which also provides the termination. Broadcast for planting. After cattle, various sundry vegs. But after several rotations of cover crop/cattle.

[@FirstClassPirate]

This was good stuff

[@kannmann97]

I have been trying to work with baby greens as a great cover crop in the fall. They are quick, most are brassicas and act as a great mulch and also helps with pathogens. We have given up on growing brassicas in the spring since flea beetles and bolting have been issues instead sowing them i huge successions in the fall to harvest some greens off of…And the best part is we dont have to deal with flipping a bed of baby greens since the frost kills it! So far so good!

[@notillgrowers]

Maybe not quite the same thing but I will often just leave my arugula beds in the fall to grow tall and then flower in the spring (they usually survive our winters). It's a solid cover crop!

[@kannmann97]

@No-Till Growers I think that would be exactly what I would hope for. In a perfect world after our summer market winds down all these baby greens would bolt and then make an even better crop. We learned with cilantro that when something like that sends up flower stalks they make a much better, more fibrous straw-like substance. It's a hard balance since you are still expecting to harvest it so we are still hoping to figure out the "best" way.

[@dukeofistria5712]

As I understood, if you plant mustard as cover crop, you should till it slightly after terminating it? Didnt understand that part in video.

[@chadwickbradbury8390]

❤😊great video thanks 😊 much love 💕

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

First time with winter rye this past winter. Planted too late to have much growth. Terminated early because that's how the spring schedule worked out. This season should be more succesful🤞🏽. I'm only a backyard gardener.

[@TaoFarmsNY]

Hey Jesse, have you thought about introducing irrigation while you solarize? That way you can have both the heat do its work and the moisture maintained. I''d also maybe have it alternate between high mosture and low to instigate desication. Just a thought. Very big fan, keep it up, and thank you for the work you do.

[@ashleythered9344]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@amberbugs]

nice nice nice i learned a lot

[@cleightcleight3623]

@Host Hey, maybe using the tarp like you did there at the end would work with the addition of running some sort of water under the tarp while cutting off the sunlight???

[@sueshaw6609]

I love your videos. Never boring. 😊 I would like a little advice. We bought a pretty piece of land with an old mobile home on it. When they pulled it out the ground was too wet. So now right where we need to plant has deep ruts. Everyone is saying we need to scrape it and level it out. My gut doesn’t like that. Do you have any thoughts.

[@ballers1130dane]

Fantastic stuff! And oh boy did that delayed Hall and Oats maneater business have me going😂

[@theburnhams2925]

Your self-depreciating expressions ("I don't seem to learn anything...") are endearing. However, we (your viewers) are not here for your confessions of mortality. We are here for what you HAVE learned....an' we (most of us...) will keep comin' back for more.

[@MichaelSmith-ku7ki]

I went to the Food Summit with Joel Salarin, Joel Kurtz, and Justin Rhodes a couple weeks ago. And a construction guy said they always throw down black unwoven variety garden cloth at their job site ls to prevent mud. He claimed the woven style cloth always left thick mud. But the unwoven cloth lets water in naturally without creating mud slicks. Right now I'm reclaiming some scrub area on my hillside from poke weed, devil's walking stick and brambles with some silver tarp.and cement blocks. Pretty dry under there. But not enough to kill everything (week 3 right now). I've used the unwoven black garden fabric for weed supressoom in my rsised bed with pretty good results so far. I plan on growing suflowers (support for my Amaranth with their heavy seed heads), mammoth beats (to break up some of the clay), beans for nitrogen, and Amaranth with maybe some Quinoa, and sorghum mixed in. These 3 are my desired crop which I want to grow for fodder for coturnix quail. Think I'll try to get a crop out of that while maybe throwing in some buckwheat for a some Phosphorus in the spaces in between. Then in the early spring I'll use that black nonwoven cloth to kill off whatever's left. And hope the black cloth and microbial action from the mulch heats up my soil to get me a little earlier start next year. I'll try to break down and kill off the weeded apot next to it while It's growing and plant some hairy vetch, mammoth beats, kale. S7nflowers, and rye grasses (einkorn) as a comparison.. I'm an amateur gardener on my 3rd year so I have no idea how this will turn out. But my idea is to mimic the big weedy vigorous growth of weeds I already have and mimic the pattern with more useful plants. The plan is to just scatter the seeds evenly everywhere all over the plot to see what likes my soil and see what takes over. Thanks for the tip on rolling a water barrel over ithe seeds for better contact 👍

[@christianmenendez5284]

....smooth on that H&O joke. I was waiting for it! Haha

[@all-up]

Nice. . What about building soil for an area that only has about an inch of topsoil and a mix of sand underneath with a tad bit of clay?

[@heavymetalbassist5]

Im not tilling as deeply as I was but I just got a kubota with a 4 ft tiller. The clay here needs organic matter added into it. It was cotton then hay field for over 100 years so there was zero top soil when I got here 2 summers ago

[@nathandroblyn1129]

I’m sorry to hear about the failed termination! Do you think you would’ve had the exact same results if you had used a darker silage tarp? I’m going to buy a hat from your website to help support you and your awesome content. Thanks buddy!!!

[@notillgrowers]

Awe, thanks! Generally moisture even in that exact spot is fine with silage tarps. I guess some combination of the extreme heat (amplified by the greenhouse effect of the clear plastic) and the escaping of moisture was just a bit too much. Bummer.

[@Cyclonut96]

@notillgrowers : So, let me understand this.. Clear plastic creates more heat from sun than a black plastic? I thought like white painted cars are cooler in the summer on the inside than black painted cars... as the white reflects ultraviolet rays, and black retains them. 🙄

[@usmc9355]

Great timing! I had a cover crop disaster last year. My first time and I totally screwed it up. We skipped them this year except for the areas that were in the rotation to be unplanned. I hope to try again next year.

[@bariklana2023]

Berbagi pengetahuan ttng pertanian berarti sangat membantu masyarakat desa yg pekerjaannya bertani😮😮

[@PlantObsessed]

@1:04 _worm sign_ ❤❤ buckwheat honey is the best I with I could have bees

[@jaysingh6066]

I live in sunny Phoenix and my lawn soil is very compacted. Can you please suggest cover crop to add organic matter to soil so i can grow good grass later on.

[@CatTrades]

Yup, I learned from my mistakes that I get creative with new mistakes 🤷‍♂️ When does it end?

[@derrickkoerkenmeier5191]

I’m looking to attempt to start rebuild the soil on some old mine reclaim property. In places it’s like a sandy silt soil. Would you have any recommendations where to start. It’ll grow weeds but there’s almost no organics in it. The original top soil was stripped off and sold years back. I’m in southern Illinois

[@jean-paulpeters3365]

why is no one using a sodstripper iam a landscaper and it makes so much sense to use a stripper. it has an adjustable cutting height so your sod can be real thin not mucking up soil just some thatch. no one has ever mentioned for starting or terminating

[@garyschmelzer]

Once I terminate, I’ll cut them by sorghum Sudan grass. Will I ever be allowed to tell it in the soil without it wrapping around the tiles how do I go about this?

[@ralfnuggs165]

I’m doing a cover crop this summer, beans, and then another one next early early spring, for my new garden area. My soil is a mix of homemade compost, top soils, and kow manure compost. Also added perlite and peat moss to it. I could plant a cash crop now, but I really want to develop a good good soil for next year and after my early spring time cover crop is mulched down I’ll add another layer of kow compost and top soils and then plant tomatoes zucchini etc, and then mulch with straw. Does this sound good?

[@jimdickson1969]

Jo's bar and grill gets rowdy on a Tuesday night

[@billjohnson4157]

I grow 450-500 dahlia plants in 60-foot raised no-til beds; I don’t dig the tubers until mid-October at the earliest, which is late for a cover crop. I’m thinking of sewing a crop and then covering the rows with a cover suspended by wire hoops. Here in Connecticut our falls are getting progressively warmer, so covered rows might get me sufficient time to get the cover crop established. Also, which cover crops would you recommend? Thanks.

[@doinacampean9132]

I wonder if the soils wasn't dry before the solarizing week, maybe next time check the "before", as well?

[@sharnie528]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@codetrauma]

I am starting out in the market farm business, with some weirdness. More on that at some later date. I'm thinking of using white clover zone 8b/native clover/in my front yard nearly impossible to get rid of, anyway; to plant living pathways and cover crop. The goal is to use a nitrogen fixating legume to reduce the need for carbon and nitrogen additives. I think I can mostly rely on compost mulch for the rest of the macro-nutrients and fish based micro-nutrients/soil conditioner for the rest of the soil needs. The rough thing is, white clover makes a tenacious and difficult to kill cover crop. Do you think a robust/leftover root system of white clover will be a major problem in the market garden? They tend to come back from visits from the devil himself and I'm worried that, even though it's a short plant vs most of what I'm planning on planting. Might be a pain to have carrots around. I would, of course, let slow growing crops get taller than clovers before transplanting. Whatcha think?

[@MistressOP]

(solar drier fail) Have you tried using a steamer? We had a steam hairdrier we used until It broke because it wasn't really industrial but it worked for about 3 years really well. Crimp it then went through with the hair drier with steam and just busted open the cells. After the cells were busted open never came back. I image if we had a flame weeder it would work better but we are in Cali and flames and cali do not mix. You really don't need a lot of heat to bust open those cells and kill off your plant. You can pretty much plant same day doing that method. I've never tried a flame weeder setup because again Cali but if a steamer can do it I image a flame weeder setup super low could do it even better. Key being not to super cook it just give it a good bust open on the cells.

[@bobbiejeanesser864]

Thank you so much for this idea! I live in a low lying and very wet area. The only reason we even have a garden is because we have built it up with different mulches. My husband has a hand held flame thing and it would be perfect to use to kill a cover crop! It gets pretty hot even around the flame. I have health issues so I need to find the easiest possible ways to garden. 😊 ❤

[@MistressOP]

@@bobbiejeanesser864 yeah in our area covercrops can not die in winter when you want to so forth. Good luck I hope it works out. Remember you don't neeed to hit the whole plant. You only need bout an inch or less in most cases. it should look like when you cook greens for a dry salad. you kinda just slap it in the pan and take it out for the blanch fast.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

16:03 so if one doesn't mind tilling, one could contour plow before solarizing? that's a way that's used to retain water aboard a sloped farm, I've heard

[@gosnelljames]

Thank you for your videos. I'm in West Central Indiana 6a. I have .10 acres for corn, beans, or wheat. Typical Midwest clay soil. What would you recommend I use for a cover crop and easy cash crop planting? I have that cheap aluminum seeder as well.

[@Brad-rr1ew]

You should make a hat that says I love nerd farmers!!!

[@michaelh10]

When i was a kid in the 90s it was called rape seed. Now here in western canada we call it canola.

[@Justbetru]

Thanks! You guys rock! Just to be clear I’m not casting a spell I don’t want you to turn to stone.

[@notillgrowers]

Much appreciated!

[@carolinevanwinkle3755]

Only people who do nothing make no mistakes. Those who do the most start by making mistakes, but learn.

[@stevebrown6793]

Want to loosen the soil and throw seeds ( mix of seeds for woldlife ) then roll over it to help keep the soil from drying out . What would be best cover crop for this ?

[@booswalia]

If you were going to pause a home garden for a year what cover crop would you put in? Six 8X10 raised beds.

[@cher-amirose7109]

💚

[@bonniebon7335]

Good job on the failure. I’ll never do that one. A foot ! Sheesh!

[@Alaytheia]

"Grow cover crop!" They said... "It'll regenerate your soils", they said...lol 💖✌️😁

[@cuznclive2236]

Be careful with the Build a Soil mustard because of its potency. A little goes a long way, and the soil needs time to sit to reduce the chance of burning plants.

[@garyschmelzer]

I knew how to terminate to cover crop but if I don’t wanna kill it into the soil, how is it going to benefit the soil?

[@TheLowLandGardener]

I remember the time when all of these methods were traditional. And then now came the sythetic fertilizers