Fall Planting Cover Crops In The Home Garden - No Till Method - Feeding The Life In The Soil

Now is the ideal time to plant a cover crop. Cover crops are the ONLY way to actually "build soil" because soil building is a plant driven process whereby carbon is captured from the atmosphere and pumped into the earth... nourishing the life in the soil for years to come!
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[@grimeymeliver9575]

I used tye Crimson clover you recommended last year around the base of my new apple trees, wow! Did they love it! I'm ordering 20 lbs for this year for our pasture, beds and the deer! Thanks as always!

[@pampotgieter7611]

Thank You NATE! I am still so amazed at your garden, the diversity, the variety, of a thriving crop. AWESOMENESS in abundance. Thank you for another wonderful lesson in what to do. Repetition IS key as you tell us. Everyday in everyway we get better and better. "The best fertilizer is a gardener's shadow" & "The best fertilizer is spending time with your plants" Much love from SA 🌍🇿🇦❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️

[@gardenlikeaviking]

I'm going to remember that one my friend!... the best fertilizer is a gardeners shadow!!

[@scottmiller1916]

Thanks for explaining the proper cover crop for the crop to be planted with its weather requirements! I learn something every time I watch your site! And the results WOW!!!!

[@kiptap4021]

I pick-up something new everytime I watch a video. I prefer to see the videos right before the time to start the process. It never gets old, all the videos are relevent at the right time.

[@nd22121]

Thanks for this video! I am going to try cover cropping this year for the first time.

[@johnjude2685]

Just started cover crops last year and believe I like what I see. Had buckwheat and followed up with corn that I believe was best ever.

[@garthwunsch7320]

Great video. I have great structure in my soil. Looks much like yours. Lots of worm holes, great aggregation, calculated 2,500,000 worms per acre (indicates worms have lots of "food"), standing sedimentation test shows extremely high humic acid values (therefore very high organic matter). Yet my potato harvest is less than good. I grow a beautiful low glycemic index variety called Nicola. The occasional plant yields a great number of larger tubers, but most are just a little larger than an egg. the seeds are planted about 16" apart in all directions. I have a severe slug population that chew the leaves badly, to the point where I believe it interferes with photosynthesis and thus crop production. Still have huge healthy stems. I expect you will advise the slug killer solution, but the plants are so large that I can't see where the slugs are, and I have several inches of hay mulch on the soil. Is it possible to have these conditions and still have insufficient fertility to feed this intensive planting? I applied wood ashes, paramagnetic basalt rock dust, fish hydrolysate and JLF from garden residue. Other veggies, like cylindra beets, do very well.

[@B30pt87]

You're so good at teaching! I love your channel.

[@nancycagle7854]

Your garden is gorgeous Nate

[@scottmiller1916]

FEED THE SOIL, NOT THE PLANT. CHOP AND DROP

[@amysinger2201]

I can't wait to hear about cover cropping for winter veg!!! I am experimenting with cover cropping by overwintering peas (Frieda Colors was recommended by my county extension office, Missoula MT 5b). I'm excited by the possibility of building my soil and having an early crop of food! According to the ag office, it has only had limited success this cold, so I may be doing rye next year ;) thank you for clarifying how to prevent spread of rye, it was the #1 reason I chose to try overwintering peas (#2, nitrogen, #3, hungry gap crop).

[@gardenlikeaviking]

I'm happy you are experimenting my friend let me know how it goes for you!!... here in zone 5/6 I've never had any variety of pea be able to withstand the winters... they can take a couple hard freezes but once the days don't get above freezing the peas are done for.... next year try a legume for nitrogen fixing such as the mammoth red clover (if the peas don't work out)

[@smas3256]

Tomatoes were done. Planted 3 rows beets 1 row turnip that germinated. Then got 4 inches of rain and don't know yet if they got washed away. Waiting another day to see if they pop up or plant more seeds. Instead of feeling down I made some fermented pickles. Your recipe is best by far. Thanks Nate

[@ausfoodgarden]

We live in an area where we can grow all year (Zone 9ish? Melbourne Australia) so don't get time to actually cover crop. I do usually put a crop into any new bed to help build the soil before growing regular crops and your demonstration was excellent. Great work my friend. 👍

[@scottmiller1916]

BIO -CHAR, good time to add to bed before sowing cover? ALSO, I experimented with live slabs of MOSS from my yard as a LIVING COVER -MULCH in a couple of my containers, and it seemed to work WONDERFULLY. The “slabs” of Georgia red clay-moss were lifted for top dressing, then laid back down and watered well. The soil was alive both under and in the moss.Ever heard of moss being used?

[@benny_ey]

instant like, obviously. those who know, know

[@masonbaylorbears]

What a great explanation at the beginning, an important thing to know and you distilled it down well into an understandable statement.

[@mickhegartygrows]

Cover crop is about an inch high in the old “Back to Eden” bed. Hoping to further break down the wood chips and add nitrogen. Thanks for another great video.

[@garthwunsch7320]

I planted Winecap mushrooms into a wood chip bed two years ago and can scarcely believe how quickly the fungi broke down the coarse wood chips. Had good mushroom production last year, a few in the spring, and now nothing... just black soil under surface chips.

[@bryanarie258]

Thanks for the knowledge my Viking friend! I am getting ready to start this process. Your ability to explain the methods is the key this is how I learn.Thank you fine Sir

[@ltuerk]

Nate, thank u for this essential summary. I appreciate your skills as a teacher!

[@bluphoenix2267]

Great video yet again. Simply explained and super detailed. Love it. Thank you, my friend 💚

[@MT_20_24]

Thank you 👌

[@user-nv3tb7gs9m]

Thank you alot

[@scottmiller1916]

Great timing for a great video! Thanks Nate

[@ivanj6540]

you sir, are my hero

[@TC-wp1ct]

Great video Nate. Be loyal & feed the soil!

[@valthatcher1235]

Thanks Nate exactly what I needed to know. BTW your garden looks amazing!!

[@Dave-420]

Great show, Thank you my brother from a different Viking mother...💪🌿🍄

[@chelinfusco6403]

That was Awesome! Thank you!

[@myfitstoreuk5608]

Great video, as always, thank you!

[@sharnie528]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@scottmiller1916]

germiNATEing like a Viking! I know, too much time on my hands 😏

[@scottmiller1916]

Throughout the winter I believe, I will add urine, leaf mold, and wood ash before sowing my cover crop. Do you think this addition to the green chop and drop crop residue planned properly? Preparing a bed in the earth for next spring to expand my container garden and get back in the ground if my back can tolerate it?

[@scottmiller1916]

I’m finally about to watch this one in its entirety, now would be a good time to add bio-char ( activated or not, it will activate throughout

[@the.santos.lives.]

Hey brother. Wanted to say hi and tell you you're my fav gardening channel. Thank you my man!

[@gardenlikeaviking]

thank you for the positive energy my friend!!

[@glassbackdiy3949]

good show, cheers Nate

[@CharZzar]

Beautiful tomatoes 🍅 Lordy!!

[@DaniellePJ]

I sowed a cover crop yesterday in some raised beds, I watched your previous vids 👍🏻. NY zone 6.

[@runemasterhariwulfaz5267]

Unfortunately my garden sat abandoned for a few years before I purchase my property. And a hairy vetch Is a bit invasive. But overall I love winter rye, and man does yours look good

[@jasonheaddy5122]

👍👍👍👍

[@debrasfrugallife3703]

Great video Nate 👍

[@lisacolmey2772]

Great freaking video! Thank you!

[@alonzofrancis9888]

thanks for the hardwork

[@scottmiller1916]

I have a SLING-BLADE found at garage sale( Left over tool of Georgias road gangs of the past) Anyone can clear a garden with one and no power or fuel needed.

[@dgblac0]

Great video, I really enjoyed watching it.

[@tyroneandrews]

Tyrone watching 😮😮😮

[@scottmiller1916]

If you don’t join our tribe on Saturdays, live and interactive, you are missing out on so much help from everyone. Between all of us Saturday noon( my time zone) members, most any question is addressed and solved! JOIN US this week and check it out!

[@billwilson3665]

I was wondering if you could do a video on gauging the right amount of water. I'm never sure if I'm over watering or not.

[@kezzaobee1462]

Great tips here, I will try this next year. Is there a cover crop for the summer please Nate

[@KeonnaDadaj-dg2vc]

Im in zone 5, and I planted red mammoth clover in September. Do I need to cut the clover at any point before I plant in spring?

[@bigonprivacy2708]

Great video! Thank you. How about a fall wheat as a cover crop?

[@nickthegardener.1120]

Hi Nate I'm using onions and leeks as an edible cover crop this year.🤠👍

[@kezzaobee1462]

Pardon my ignorance but isn’t the idea of a cover crop is to allow the whole crop go back into the soil, if you are eating your cover crop, then it wouldn’t be classed as a cover crop. Explain if I am wrong, I’m here to learn

[@nickthegardener.1120]

@@kezzaobee1462 a cover crop is to protect the soil over winter, yes it can be dug in or chopped and dropped in spring time also to increase organic matter in the soil. I have enough compost though to cover my whole allotment so I don't need to chop and drop, I just want a root in the ground over winter and it's a bonus I can eat it too. Good question.🤠👍

[@gardenlikeaviking]

@@kezzaobee1462 the main benefit of the cover crop is the living root being in the ground which is constantly nourishing the life in the soil and making it more and more "alive" for whatever crop comes next

[@scottmiller1916]

To be used in the following year of coarse

[@sanchezable]

I forget the cover crop you recommended that could grow along side the garden.

[@gardenlikeaviking]

You are probably thinking of Dutch white clover… That is low growing and you can use it like a living mulch

[@scottmiller1916]

Would the roots of moss slabs used as a living cover crop-living mulch in container grow help the soil web, will use the water and nutrients, but acceptable in this application. It’s said that containers soil can’t LIVE unless at least 20 gallon, I can keep a 2 gallons soil ALIVE

[@tomatito3824]

Have you tried sowing a week BEFORE terminating the cover crop? (a la Fukuoka) Or even sowing it in an orderly manner (like lines), and instead of terminating it, go for a drastic pruning, like they do in syntropic agriculture? This way you can feed the soil at least one more time (or forever, if it's a fast-growing perennial that tolerates pruning).

[@gardenlikeaviking]

those are great concepts my friend here's my thoughts... technically its "syntropic agroforestry" which works very well for certain plant species and especially in the tropical jungle type setting where they've implemented this type of structure... here in the home gardens in zone 5 its not going to be the same because we have to focus specifically on systems giving the biggest return on investment for a given space... and yes I've tried in rows and also pruning but the cover crop always out competes the veggie crop in my experience

[@CinnamonBear-xv4eq]

Can you explain seed stage? You want the seeds to form? I am a little confused thank you! 🙏

[@scottmiller1916]

How can tell if the winter rye seed is viable( mature enough) to be utilized the next year?

[@scottmiller1916]

Is the winter rye seed viable if chopped for a warm weather garden plot down in 7B?or are the under developed seed essential for the chop and drop?

[@charliemcgriff7643]

Hey friend how would you with sandy soil I live in florida 10a port st lucie florida

[@hulkamania5071]

bro living in the future

[@douadhere]

Thank you for your knowledge 🙏🏽 If you use Crimson clover for a cover crop, at what point do you kill it off?

[@gardenlikeaviking]

if doing no till then you wait until the flowers have developed but have not yet started to produce seed... roll the flower around in your hand and make sure you don't see any little black seeds falling out.... try to get it right before it goes to seed

[@brianseybert2189]

I use a perennial cover crop of thyme and oregano in my raised tomato bed. I do use different teas throughout the growing season and fall to introduce nutrients. I started this 2 years ago and I am glad I did, because last year I was invaded with jumping worms. The beds in which I heavily mulched with shredded leaves and compost had literally hundreds of mature JW's last fall, the bed mulched with living plants had none. I maintained a baiting program with shredded leaves in the infested beds this season and virtually eliminated the JW's from those beds. I have 2 beds now with hairy vetch and clover to put some nitrogen back into the soil. Enjoy your video's, Stay Well!!! Here is a link of how I baited the JW"s kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5eYZXtmd6lkbcUsi=a0TMZFgXNgFUp-rN

[@lilygonzales905]

Nate, I have seeds germinating and all veg harvested for now. Can I sow Crimson Clover now, then plant directly into it when the seedlings are ready for transplant? (ZONE 9b) By the time all winter veggies are in can the remaining clover then serve as a living ground cover?? What do you think? Obviously, things like carrots and other direct sow seeds will need a little row cleared...

[@MrRDRII]

What’s that white stuff on the grass?-Texas

[@ramonalvarado9503]

Can I apply cover crop system on Raised Beds?? If yes, what kind of cover crop should I use on southern California ? Thank you.

[@gardenlikeaviking]

yes you can use in raised bed... plant some kind of legume that'll help add nitrogen to the soil such as cowpeas or garbanzo beans or a clover

[@ramonalvarado9503]

Thanks@@gardenlikeaviking

[@GreenGranny]

My temps don't get below 20-25 degrees. Right now we're are still in the upper 80's. I am thinking of planting sunflowers, Zinnias.? Things that I know will frost kill. Do you have any ideas for warmer climates like mine?

[@gardenlikeaviking]

go for a heat loving legume... cowpeas.... garbanzo beans... something that will fix nitrogen into the soil and also frost kill...

[@GreenGranny]

@gardenlikeaviking Nice! Thank-you for the information. I will try those.

[@sararichardson737]

Hey Nate vis the Microbial solution: I’m in the hot tropics. I’ve noticed that it foams up nicely enough within 8 hours and that if I leave it longer (24/36 hours) to foam up more it turns flat. As I didn’t want to waste it I just chucked it away, neat, onto the beds. Do you think that there’s a small window of efficacy and that the disappearance of the foam means it’s no longer effective. Thanks.

[@gardenlikeaviking]

yes definitely it has everything to do with the foam... use it at its peak!!... there's a short window with the JMS of only a couple hours when it needs to be introduced into the soil

[@scottmiller1916]

NATE, your missing all the other “WINDOWS” for the uses and efficacy of oxygeNATED solutions, for example, an “OVER” oxygenated solution becomes loaded with BACTERIA, that may be relished by plants for a foliar spray in need of the bacteria to fight off problematic disease or pests!

[@scottmiller1916]

@@gardenlikeaviking There isn’t really a PEAK window for an oxygenated solution, the bacteria grown in a solution “PAST” it’s “PEAK” may be EXACTLY what a plant, foliar, needs( not the soil, but the actual PLANT needs for certain disease of pest control! Admittedly, the proper use of a microscope is necessary for diagnoses and implementation of such foliar spray, but a $3 plastic LED microscope on temu or where ever works fine!

[@matthijsdebruijn615]

Hey Nate, I am currently going to a school for bio dynamic agriculture and work on an organic csa with 500 mouths to feed. We have animals too. So learning a lot about the cycling of nutrients. Nutrients have to come from somewhere. If would add only half an inch of cow manure I would have more nutrients then most plants can absorb in one season. Usualy cover crops aren't manured because it is to hold in the left over fertility. It seems enormously unsustainable if all cropland we need to feed humans (fewer pigs should eat leftovers and cows only grass) needed such thick aplications of organic matter be it leaves, manure, compost or whatever. Because in a world without syntethic fertilizer all sources of nutrients would be much more precious because only a limited amounth of organic nutrients can be produced sustainble. At least that is what I think. Any thoughts?

[@gardenlikeaviking]

this is a fantastic topic my friend and I will read your question on the Saturday live and answer in depth.... but in short... do you notice how the title and thumbnail of this video states "in the home garden"?... this is the ideal method for home gardens where people want to produce the most amazing nutrient dense and flavorful food thats naturally resistant to pest and disease... this technique does not scale up well... for industrial or commercial type food production things will be done quite differently... in the home garden this style here is very easy to achieve...

[@matthijsdebruijn615]

@@gardenlikeaviking Yes, I understand that this is a good technique for home garden and nutrient dense food is the first goal. Smaller scale is part of the solution, like it were back in the day. But we would still need a lot of land area to be fertilized, only divided over multple small local farms. You probably understand that I meant this but just for emphasis. Thanks for your thougts, I will be there saturday.

[@dawnmattin2478]

What if you have very sandy soil?

[@gardenlikeaviking]

cover crops can really help to hold the soil together and add nutrients... also add biochar and various manures if available but the cover crop alone is going to be great!

[@scottmiller1916]

Does the black plastic stop the rye seed from germinating ? germiNATEing 🤣

[@scottmiller1916]

SLURPING UP THE KNOWLEDGE 🤣 LIVE and interactive NOON SATURDAYS. If you have an issue, chances are a tribe member can help!

[@scottmiller1916]

Wood ash?

[@gardenlikeaviking]

yes you can apply wood ash at this time as well!!

[@MonkeyBoy-sd9vc]

Great content but you can't say you didn't fertilize but did use a compost tea. That IS fertilizing. But, again, always killer content brother.

[@gardenlikeaviking]

technically this is true because compost tea still is adding fertility... but in my system I make the distinction between dominantly "fertility adding" and "biology adding"... the focus of the process is very different between the two and compost tea like I make it has not many actual nutrients but has ship loads of biology!!

[@johnjude2685]

Great job of cover crop gardening " ƁIG thanks "I started cover crops last year and it's great