Cover Cropping: The LAZIEST Way to Improve Your Soil

[@epicgardening]

Bonus info! You can (and should) cover crop your raised beds if you're done for the season vs. leaving the soil bare. I bought a 50lb bag from True Leaf Market: bit.ly/3DCvP9o - Also, we are FINALLY back in stock on almost all models of Birdies beds and do not expect to be out of stock ever again: shop.epicgardening.com/

[@patcox8745]

I’m so excited. I got notice of impending delivery! So happy!

[@OverKillJill]

I'm so excited. I'm going to be starting my first garden next spring. I already have my cardboard set aside to make the raised beds with. I'm going to have a potatoes, okra, beans, vegetables, and lemon orange and apple trees.

[@laurafrey5244]

Watch Kiss the Ground on Netflix. Addresses this issue fully.

[@epicgardening]

@@patcox8745 YES!

[@epicgardening]

@@OverKillJill Fantastic Amanda!

[@chiefearthhealer8099]

I grew up on a Texas farm. When we first moved onto the land, it had been conventionally farmed for decades so it was dry, dead “dirt”. After my dad started planting cover crops, the soil became rich, black “soil” filled with life that produced bigger crop yields. Read the book “Dirt to Soil” by Gabe Brown if you want to understand how to save our planet by building healthy soil.

[@trishdavi7049]

Thanks I will look up that book you reccommend

[@epicgardening]

Glad your dad got it back to life!

[@wizardss3684]

Thanks for the recommendation

[@tesha199]

@Texas HighGrade You can repair the soil anywhere

[@d.av.i.d.j.a.s.o.n]

@Texas HighGrade Man, I hear you, but I’m not trying to advocate for the government to fund anything. They’re part of the reason we’re in the mess we’re in. They can keep their money and stay out of all of it. The bigger train you speak of is people like you and I educating everyone around us. Over the past 5-6 years, I’ve seen and helped quite a few people open their eyes to the importance of this type of information. That information spread becomes exponential with every person who becomes passionate about this.

[@jnorth3341]

I just do a huge cover crop of snow, some day I might move out of a hardiness zone 2a area, could be worse, have some friends in a 1b zone, they have a nice rock garden.

[@PerishingPurplePulsar]

Dude I thought I had it bad in a 3b zone, do you live in Nunavut or something? haha. All jokes aside though I wish you all the best in your gardening endeavors!

[@jnorth3341]

@@PerishingPurplePulsar Heh, actually north of some part of Nunavut, far west of all of it, interior of Alaska.

[@Glowtrey]

Wow compared to you my gardening life seems so easy!

[@kaylablock1425]

Wow, I’m in zone 4. Tip o the hat! (We can do a cover crop in zone 4. Are you sure you can’t?)

[@kaylablock1425]

@@jnorth3341 whoa! Nunavut?? Can you garden at all?

[@michaelsoltesz3779]

I live in East Tennessee. I use the daikon radish as a “clay buster”. They grow so quickly and robustly here. They dig better than moles. I also use premium and cheap mixes of cover crops just to mix things up. Keep your soil busy so it doesn’t go away. 😉

[@tracycrider7778]

Trying daikon this year myself

[@dkearl6827]

Many thanks! Do you have a favorite seed source?

[@michaelsoltesz3779]

@@dkearl6827 Having trouble posting comment. Sorry for any duplicate messages.

[@michaelsoltesz3779]

Hello! I order my mixes through amazon. I think the company is in Utah or the seed ships from New Mexico area. I type these into amazon for results: No-Till Farm and Garden Cover Crop Mix Seeds - 25 Lbs Bulk Outsidepride Daikon Radish Cover Crop Seed - 5 LBS Those are the premium mixes I use. When I just need “cheap cover” I literally just go to Kroger and get bird seed. Apparently it isn’t heat treated, (the one I get) and it just has millet and sunflower seeds and the like in it. No weeds, quick to sprout and easy to mow down at any point in the season. I hope some of this helps. 😉

[@dkearl6827]

@@michaelsoltesz3779 thank you. I have family in Utah, easy peasy .

[@chahahc]

While everyone is trying their hardest to get as much productivity from their land, I'm sitting here with the "how much productivity can I get with zero effort" route. I don't even differentiate between cover and cash crops anymore. I just mix a bunch of whatever seeds I have together and throw it all over my yard and water. Let nature deal with it. If it grows it grows, if it dies it dies. The purest form of chaos garden. I probably got close to 200 species of plants and people visiting are always amazed with the garden, completely oblivious to the probably 90% failure rate.

[@plantcare5385]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3rbkmygjqafqas

[@epicgardening]

I LOVE that approach!

[@hermanhale9258]

I want near zero effort and very little watering.

[@marcthomas4972]

Masanobu fukuoka would be proud!

[@DH-en4th]

I've been completely over thinking this and your comment has brought me joy and relief lol thank you!

[@nomadhomad3685]

Never thought about cover crop seed packs, but I just go with Yams. Pretty effortless and you get insane yields (I throw back the least desirable formed Yams back into the plot) every year, while having constant cover. I've had no problems growing my regular crop on top of the Yams. The soil loves it and yam blooms are gorgeous each year.

[@epicgardening]

Cannot beat a yam!

[@hannahcunningham7297]

Can you tell me what zone your in? Where do u get your slips ?

[@Jeff_PNW]

Last year I bought a couple of bales of straw to mulch my garden. I wasn't expecting them to be full of seeds, and I inadvertently cover cropped my entire garden with barley...raised beds, paths, everything. 🤣 Fortunately that stuff pulls up easily, so before it went to seed I simply yanked it out and threw it back on the ground.

[@eswaribalan164]

Nice

[@karenk7157]

I just did a test patch a couple weeks ago with my high plains arid and very neglected soil. Just raked, watered, threw seeds down, raked again and covered with straw. No soil on top. It's growing great.

[@epicgardening]

Smart!

[@niconine268]

Very smart

[@m0orash]

David Pakman sent me here ... am gonna check out your gardening stuff ... I love gardens. Monty's 80 gardens show is one of my favorite tv shows...watched that show so many times.

[@Chaotic-Cacti]

I knew marigolds had an effect on soil nematodes, but I didn’t know mustard does the same or something similar thanks Kevin.

[@fredjudson524]

Mustards produce the chemical isothiocyanate which is what produces the biofumigation. It is a volatile gas and plant material must be immediately incorporated (tilled) into the soil or the isothiocyanate will gas off into the atmosphere and not do it’s work in the soil.

[@rickthelian2215]

Chop and drop for no till gardens you could use a lawn mower with no bag, or if you want to remove use the bag at the back of the mower. Chop and drop for till gardens you could just use the matching plug on the mower to make the leaves very small.

[@MegaScienceguru]

so glad winter can be a good thing im trying to get into gardening i love your channel but i live in canada and the winter kills a good 60% of the plants you and other channels show

[@SimonHergott]

Starting to freeze at night in British Columbia.. Tearing most everything out for the compost and spreading the finished compost on the beds for next year. Always miss the self sufficiency when winter hits here. You southerners are lucky in that way.

[@cynthiadoe3096]

This is the best explanation and examples of cover cropping I have seen! Thank you for breaking this down (pun intended!) in a way that makes sense! There is a lot information on what to plant but not what to do with it to get the soil ready to plant spring crops! Thank you so very much!! 😃😃😃

[@artistlovepeace]

This is the best gardening channel. It answers all my questions.

[@jenniferstutz2562]

Great video, thank you for addressing timing and what to do with it. Many people just say ‘plant a cover crop’ and that’s it. Thanks!

[@Pomni3477]

I never knew they sell mixed bags of cover crops. That's pretty cool.

[@alicesgardentoplate7904]

I just received my first order from Botanical Interests. I ordered Hairy Vetch. Impressed with packaging and free lettuce seed packet.

[@patriciaterry5539]

One of my spring beds is done! I cleaned up the bed and put down my first crop cover!

[@tomfisher3117]

Hi, thanks for another great video. I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma. I planted a cover crop in my garden beds. Right now they are about 10" tall. After planting and germination, I found a source for leaves so I ordered 18 cubic feet of leaves for my 1100 sq. ft. garden. I have pretty good soil, originally hard clay, as I have taken care of it for years. So, here's my dilemma: Although I am composting a good portion of the leaves, I still have probably 12-15 cubic yards of shredded (once) leaves to deal with. I was thinking about putting the rest of my shredded leaves on my garden walks, letting the cover crop grow in my beds until, terminating it in the spring. Then I could rake shredded leaves onto my beds after I plant. My second option would be to terminate my cover crop right now and cover the beds with shredded leaves. Which option would you choose?

[@MechanicMark613]

I used the same cover crop that you are using and I found the Chickadees pecked through the row covers and ate some of the seeds and I even sowed one bed and covered them with an inch of compost and those same Chickadees dug deep to get to the seeds

[@Iloveorganicgardening]

I like to buy the multi bean soup mix from the grocery store and use that for a cover crop. Then I add in some radishes and buckwheat and whatever other seeds I have laying around.

[@Pixics]

I never really knew what the purpose of a cover crop was, thanks for the info. My natural cover crop seems to be bermuda grass on my yard.

[@deoko1]

never in my life I wanted to say HOT DAYUUM to a garden, but seriously crazy how gorgeous it is.

[@PepperGeek]

Thanks for sharing! We're looking forward to trying this now that we have our own space 😁

[@richards5110]

I love cover crops! One minor peeve from the video is that *all* cover crops act as carbon pumps, putting exudates in the soil to feed the soil microbiome, not just brassicas. Grasses that use the C4 photosynthetic pathway are especially good at this in warm climates (sorghum-sudangrass for example). Brassicas also aren't helping maintain the mycorrhizal networks in the soil, so other varieties of crops are important to help bolster those.

[@epicgardening]

For sure!! It's hard for me to go that deep in detail for beginner vids tho :)

[@SusanBame]

Thank you. I bought the seeds last fall, did the cover crop, it's growing like crazy, and now it's time to plant. I didn't know what to do with all of this fantastic growth. Chop & drop, eh!

[@christinebrooks6364]

Great video I have planted greens this Winter as my soil has been poor this season to hooefully improve my soil for spring, take care 🙂

[@GardenKatt]

I had to laugh at one of the other commenters. They said they just do a cover crop of snow. Set it and forget it. I am in Ky. In a winter day we can have all the seasons. While i have all the stuff needed for my hoop house i havent gotten the energy up yet. One day soon i hope.

[@ebenburger111]

Chop and drop is a good mulch but mostly only feed the organisms above the ground. Its better to bury the greens under the ground to feed the bacteria too, then also add a layer of green and brown mulch on top.

[@sowoddhomestead6591]

This is JUST the video i was needing!! But i am contemplating trying wicking beds out here in the cali desert. containter gardened the first year , in ground beds the following but they just dont get the water they need in our sandy soil. hoping for more sucess this coming spring 🤞

[@takinastabatit]

You answered my last question right at the end.... what if it gets too cold in winter... Thanks!

[@syafeeqiza4181]

Thank you Kevin. Here in Malaysia we let arachis pintoi works its magic all year long.

[@Patricia_562]

Thank you!! I just placed an order. Looking forward to trying this out.

[@epicgardening]

Hope you like it!

[@Going2Frys]

That was a Tim “The Toolman” Taylor move bringing a power tiller in lol.

[@rebeljack4183]

Uhg ugh oohg

[@planetdoods4360]

Hi Kevin . Thanks for sharing this great idea. Greetings from UK.

[@epicgardening]

Cheers!

[@shibafox]

Awesome video, I'm about to clean out my beds for the year and I was debating on a cover crop or not. I'm going to dig and figure out which ones are rabbit-safe so that I can just toss the chopped stuff to my garden herd.

[@epicgardening]

Smart!

[@jackiehorsley9263]

sounds like and awesome way to put nutrients back into your soil I well have to think about doing something like that In the future

[@PeterSedesse]

Buckwheat and mow it right as it starts to flower. It is a nitrogen fixer and beyond that it germinates and grows very fast and smothers weeds. The only other one i like is daikon radishes if you have compacted or clay soil.

[@hillaryburdick9313]

This is so helpful! I’m literally doing garden clean-up right now!

[@epicgardening]

I'm so glad!

[@Justme-w8i]

Just thinking about this! Perfect timing, thank you!

[@plantcare5385]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3rbkmygjqafqas

[@Genna-b4r]

I'm surprised we didn't see the use of the hand sickle in this video :D

[@evelyn.8967]

I’d say for Florida this would make sense for summer when it’s too hot and unpleasant to garden. Would have to use heat tolerant plants.

[@kimberlyd317]

Yep was just thinking about that too! Although this could be a good strategy to improve your soil and maybe plant the stuff you really want in the mix? A living mulch perhaps???🤔

[@tamarabrodinsky]

I would also love to hear any input from experienced gardners in hot and dry climates.

[@epicgardening]

Makes sense! Just get a good mix

[@samtaylor6185]

By tilling you are essentially speeding up the breakdown of the organic matter and releasing that soil carbon into the atmosphere. You should be able to get by just chopping or if you're not opposed to it, killing the cover crop by spraying and just planting directly into it after the REI has been met.

[@AlleyCat-1]

I wish I could, but our irrigation season is over & my chicken's have ate most of the seeds that I planted. But I have a plan for it to work better that I stumbled across by accident. Don't have raised garden beds this year.

[@aidegarabedian2073]

Live in Texas zone 9a, following square foot gardening, not lucky this year on my garden, do I need to kill this covers with cardboard before spring next year? Or during winter?

[@kumudinihomegarden9139]

Good space to do a lot 👍. I loved the idea for lazy gardeners 😀. Pumpkins looking nice 👌🏿👌🏿.

[@kelleymulina8015]

Just ordered the cover crop! 😁

[@elsa3945]

Thanks Kevin, this video was so helpful!

[@nenemaria-cornfieldsgarden]

Great ideas there! I'm on the coast in the UK so it doesn't get super cold here, I mainly plant kale, chard and other brassicas over winter as a cover crop. Lettuce and other salad greens work well too, a bonus being you can pick the outer leaves (though they often don't get big enough for much of a harvest with only 7 hours of daylight!). I'm making more of an effort this year to leave no bed empty.

[@janaeshaffer266]

Nenemaria, just curious what zone you fall into. I'm in the U.S., ohio, and want to try what you've described. Sometimes we do not see snow sometimes we do, but I'd love to have kale Swiss chard greens mustards as long as possible while providing cover and repairing soil. Any extra tips or advice from you would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

[@kellymartin2820]

Thank you.i just saw another video telling me to use Epsom salts. I decided to fact check. Came across your video and I trust you. Thank you Kevin! If you're ever in Windsor Ontario I'd love to buy you a drink or have you check out my garden

[@420Treez]

Thanks

[@teetstreats5682]

Another old school style video!!! Direct, to the point and packed full of info. Now if my wife would stop asking me what you are saying so I can hear you🤣😂😆😂🤣

[@epicgardening]

LOL. I like to keep it classic

[@lifewithmisty1]

I always learn something new on your channel, thank you for this😊

[@rockyusa2012]

Great tips. Here's to a speedy winter 👏

[@epicgardening]

Hope so!

[@stephenluna7932]

Thanks for mentioning that they can compete. I was wondering if I should thin with how thick it was.

[@rabbitgirlz4380]

What kind of cover crops are best for texas flower beds and whats the best time to start laying the seeds

[@cdybft9050]

How about those bags of seeds used for food plots?

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

You sold me. I've ordered a bunch from the website you linked, and I'm actually a bit bummed they don't have buckwheat (which is ok, I can get that elsewhere).

[@GmamaGrowz]

Thinking I'll drop a green manure cover crop for my container plants 🤩 Thanks for sharing!

[@azoe6764]

I am planting winter rye in my beds this fall and winter. Im in zone 6a

[@E3Farmstead]

This is some really good information. We are wanting to learn more about gardening so that we have a great garden here in Oklahoma. Thanks for sharing.

[@vginnmusa3128]

I live in southern NM (8A/B). Lots of rabbit & quail pressure, some pack rats. How do you keep them from digging/eating up your cover crop? I guess that is where mustard would help (lol)?

[@chrisholdread174]

If I still have a place and a garden come next winter i'll try these but how will beans survive freezing temps? It still gets nasty cold in the south

[@lailafatehali7852]

Can I do this in spring. Like cover my small garden patch with cover crops as I am not intended to do any growing this season. Or can you suggest anything else I can do beside getting all weed covered next year and starting from scratch again. Thanks 😊

[@stephenhope7319]

Good video. I do this every Fall but I leave "holes" in my raised beds for spinach, radish broccoli, etc for winter crops here in 9b Sacramento. I usually turn in my cover crops by Feb so that I can plant veggies in March or April and get my hot peppers in by May.

[@rbthegardennannyllc4219]

This is what I needed to see!! Thank you.

[@DisgruntledVet]

I just picked up a bag of this.

[@Curious859]

Thank you so much. You showed how to plant in your raised bed. But what if I want to plant cover crops on my land which is already covered with weeds? What can I do first?

[@homelife8597]

Kevin, I thought you were doing no dig. I'm curious to know how that went and why you decided to go back to tilling.

[@plantcare5385]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3rbkmygjqafqas

[@epicgardening]

I am doing no dig, AFTER 1 till. Making a video

[@TheRainHarvester]

What cover crops for Texas winter that chickens can eat?

[@Demebeso714]

Hi Epic..glad to see you..yippeee!!!!

[@epicgardening]

Hey hey!

[@runnomore2243]

I grew cover crops last year for the first time and it was successful. My only problem was with the chop and drop. The plants kept growing back. After the third round of chop and drop, I pulled them out. Not sure if covering with black material would have helped after the first go around.

[@richards5110]

Chop and drop combined with "tarping" is a classic strategy. I think it would have helped you out.

[@venessamarquis5293]

I was wondering about that

[@epicgardening]

Yes covering is a fantastic move

[@keithnotley3856]

As Kevin said ... you cut the cover crop BEFORE THE SEEDS DEVELOP! If flowers begin to show, then chop and drop them. When the cover crop has achieved maturity, you can chop and drop it without its seeds! Just be vigilant and observant to what is happening!

[@lucasthemycologist]

@@keithnotley3856 I don't think the crops were growing back from seed, just sprouting from the roots.

[@AnyKeyLady]

OMG I'm literally on an UK seed website and just added this to my basket before i got this notification! I am ordering some indoor stuff like spinach and crest for the padawan to grow and saw that on their seed list. They call it Green Manure. but yeah, it's just a rye mix. I was actually also looking at mustard seed as i think CaliKim mentioned that you can eat mustard leaves. Yay I am feeling smart! lol We just extended our bedding area so this will be great. Part of the soil in the mix is clay based, so hopeful this will help it out over winter. Thank you for posting this!

[@epicgardening]

There you go!

[@Andiewhyte119]

I was just discussing this yesterday, I called it Green Manuring and the other person said Sacrificial Crop...and I decided I liked their term better. Wields more mystical power 😄

[@AnyKeyLady]

@@Andiewhyte119 Sounds like the Wicker Man film with Edward Woodward! lol I like the sound of it but also the film gave me ebbie jeebies. Give me another 40 years of experimental gardening and i'll probably be like the old lady hermits with herbal medicine jars, a dream catcher and a little wicker person called Bob! lol I have only recently heard of the term cover cropping. I was curious as to what green manure was on the seed list but it said it was cover cropping and explained a bit more about what is actually is - rye, etc and i was like oh yes exactly what i need right now. I really want to try and grow mushrooms but all i think of is Minecraft! I have seen those boxes you can buy but other than that how do you grow mushrooms safely to eat without anyone tripping balls or getting sick? Anyway, good luck with your Sacrificial Crops and Mystical Powers! x

[@Andiewhyte119]

@@AnyKeyLady 😂😂 we have the same goals! I keep thinking I'd be happy to be a Female Radagast ...but clean. Tidy house, shelves of herbal remedies...and no bird crap in my hair 😄

[@michelleblaine1855]

Now that it is September, when should I plant my cover crop

[@constancewhite6906]

Question: what’s the best cover crop for the summer? I’m in So CA and have soil that’s basically land fill: sand & rocks of ALL sizes. I’d like to use this summer as soil prep time. Any suggestions? I’ve moved into desperation mode so I’ll also copy this question in your website.

[@danacarbone9405]

Nice! Very cool I'm going to do that this fall

[@KsstheStrs]

Can I use the lawn mover to terminate the cover crop? Lol.

[@mrsleannejh]

Is there a chart of when you should start this in each zone?

[@eswaribalan164]

So true, l cut my grass and now the ground is so dry.

[@melanieallen8980]

did you say hairy vag as a cover crop?😀Good video.Im just planting cover crops now in Sydney, Australia.

[@brofessormex]

I used chia seed for cover crop.

[@barbarastefani254]

Thank you for this video definitely need help

[@Sam-ge1vf]

I wonder if any of those suggestions would help eliminate invasive hammerhead worms? In GA they are getting ridiculous...

[@anthonyshea5946]

I don’t cover crop but compost and cover with weed cloth to keep the cats out. Oregon is hard to cover crop the winter.

[@epicgardening]

I believe it!

[@gomezaddams6470]

I live in Washington and if you start it in August it stops a lot of diseases on squash and tomatoes. It does not bounce up from the dirt when you water. By the time your Harvest is done these have grown enough to add nutrition to the soil to turn over or two just let freeze and turn it over just with a fork not tilling. I said this very quickly so I hope it made sense. Cover crop just started earlier it won't take away from what you're doing as long as you're well-established by August we pretty much Harvest most of what we grow in the Northwest right! Happy gardening

[@onarandomnote25]

Hey Kevin/Jacque, do you still use perlite in your raised bed mixes? I've been using your perlite, coir and compost mixes but noticed in big rains that the perlite just floats to the surface. Do you get this problem too and do you have any recommendations on how to mitigate this?

[@epicgardening]

It typically shows up in my mixes, yes! I fyou have too light a mix, the perlite will float out - sign of overwatering or not enough substantial matter in soil

[@onarandomnote25]

@@epicgardening awesome, I think I'll add a bit more compost to the mix to weigh it down a little. Thanks so much for replying!

[@lisakeillor3306]

Kevin, I live several borders south. Here we only have two seasons: dry season and rainy season, both 6 months long. In the dry season when watering is possible planting can be done year around. I'm now planting in containers but I would like to do it in container beds. My question is do I need to do cover crops or just a crop rotation?

[@epicgardening]

Hmm, in your case perhaps a rotation makes more sense

[@lucasthemycologist]

Crop rotation is better since you don't have a "dormant" season like winter in colder places.

[@JadeIsBaking]

😁 thanks for another awesome vid Kevin!!

[@epicgardening]

Thanks for watching!

[@simonsuh227]

Thanks for the walkthrough! Quick question, cover crops in my bed are thriving and also are being eaten by thousands of larvae. Do I need to remove all these larvae somehow or can I just ignore them and let the cover crops be?

[@selinanguyentv5125]

thích vườn rau của b

[@DarkGT]

The soil will be a little bit depleted from other nutrient elements. Be sure to add some compost back.

[@Jordan.Dewit.]

How do you keep brids from eating all your seed?

[@hiya555]

hey! is there a summer kill cover crop? I live in Kuwait & our winters are mild but our summers are very extreme. We get 50-60 C. (120-140F ) heat. do the cover crops also survive the heat and if so is there anything that you would reccomend?

[@lucasthemycologist]

If you want a cover crop that will die in summer try brassicas or other cold-adapted plants. A cover crop that can survive 50-60 C would probably have to be a succulent of some kind. Try using native species as they will be more adapted to your climate.

[@TheJcon012]

Charles would not be happy, stick to no dig!! Great video !

[@epicgardening]

Doing a vid on why I till once!

[@Mr2TIMOTHY4V2]

fumigation for nematodes - that's a really good tip!

[@wb5598]

I have a small perennial garden. The soil is pretty heavy with clay. Suggestions? Right on the edge of zones 6b and 7a.

[@commonground189]

No till for the win!

[@selinanguyenofficial7343]

Chi sẻ hay quá

[@joshnabours9102]

Also, is there a cover crop you can also use as salad?

[@richards5110]

absolutely. you can use almost any salad green as a cover crop, but some greens commonly used as covers include turnips and radish, mustard greens, amaranth, chard, spinach, peas (for shoots) the list goes on. You can combine many of the above into one mix and simply broadcast sow them into the bed, giving a salad bar cover crop fusion :)

[@chrisrond1022]

Does your tiller shred the leaves into tiny bits because i don't see a hint of green in those beds

[@epicgardening]

It tends to bury them and we did a cover of compost on top!