Vetch is the KING of Green Manures

[@laineyfike2000]

First winter growing vetch. Looking forward to doing a chop and drop. Sean thank you for making these seeds available and educating us on how to grow them. Much appreciated.

[@gordonsmit3396]

Wow.. Awesome... Definitely a must next winter... Can even help to boost my compost bin.... 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@oldmanfigs]

Very well putt… thanks from niagara

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Thank you.

[@jez-bird]

Love the termination method !

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Thank you, if its planted correctly it's so much easier.

[@minnoux]

Brilliant! Thankyou so much…

[@LivingseedsFarm]

You're very welcome!

[@geoffchurchman5211]

Thanks Sean

[@erukaseven]

Collecting vetch pods from the wild around me to cover crop my garden, and then I want to do a clover mixture yard for even more cover crop greens. Plus the color and bees.

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Great stuff.

[@judyvdwesthuizen6728]

This is good. Will be doing this next winter 🥰

[@farm.3287]

What is the preferred spacing between vetch when planting it?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Row centre to row centre about 1m.

[@farm.3287]

@@LivingseedsFarm What about spacing in the same row?

[@ASpinnerASpinner]

@@farm.3287 he said 10-15mm seed spacing in another comment.

[@محمدعبدالله-س1ف9ن]

What is the name of this plant specifically, because I searched for its seed a lot. Give me its name in detail, please, and I hope for a response.

[@LivingseedsFarm]

The scientific name for vetch is Vicia sativa. Hope this helps you.

[@محمدعبدالله-س1ف9ن]

@@LivingseedsFarm Helped me a lot, thank you

[@allamaprabhu6188]

I want to know more about the green house which you is in the video. I went through the your website, not able to buy the course!..

[@LivingseedsFarm]

I'll look at doing a video on them, when we need to repair or make a new one.

[@allamaprabhu6188]

​@@LivingseedsFarmthank you I was waiting for your reply. Please do a full video so it would help lot for many❤

[@ridzlaafk]

Around what date do you guys plant the seeds

[@LivingseedsFarm]

We start planting vetch in Feb. We find the best yields come from Feb and March sown seed.

[@marymcandrew7667]

How long does it take to grow like this? I'm not sure when I would need to sow it, so I can plan what bed it can go on.

[@LivingseedsFarm]

That’s about 3 months growth.

[@karelmarais8897]

Clearly cut my Vetch too soon and wrongly, I chopped and worked it in, we live and learn. Question: The way you explain it, the dead mulch is now going to be lying on my planting line, do you just stick your tomatoes etc in between that mulch when September comes around?

[@ninaventer7461]

Would really love your reply Sean. Tx

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

That's how I've seen people do it. Just plant between the mulch.

[@smokyplantationfarms3806]

How many days old was this crop when recording this? Beautiful stand

[@LivingseedsFarm]

It's about 4 months, vetch starts off quite slowly, but once it gets going it's a beast.

[@flatsville9343]

How thickly do you sow the vetch in the tomato rows? Are you distributing by hand or using a push seeder? This is what we would call Hairy vetch in the US or some other variety. Thnx in advance.

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yes hairy vetch is the same. We just make a single drill down the line and seed at about 10-15mm spacing. Cover and turn the drip on.

[@jonipleau9284]

Wonderful! Is it Common Vetch?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yes.

[@ReefRenegade]

Can vetch being used as animal or chicken feed? Thank you

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Great question. Yes. Absolutely. That is most often what it is used for.

[@barberton3695]

Any suggestions for poor draining and clay-heavy soils?

[@basiamcwhorter2694]

I would like to know as well..

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Clay soils are difficult to improve. My advice is to ignore the clay and create a bed onto of the clay. Plant in that bed. Mulching in particular is important with clay soils. Hi carbon mulching with untreated wood chips is probably the fastest way to improve clay soil.

[@barberton3695]

@@LivingseedsFarm thank you for that advice 👍

[@lucschoonen]

do you terminte the cover in the tunnel all by hand, and how much work is it?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yes. It’s done by hand with a spade. Its work, but not digging a hole work.

[@farm.3287]

Can I plant them in the same line at a 9-inch spacing?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yes. Planting in a line ensures easy termination. Your spacing should be 10-15mm or half an inch-ish.

[@brianseybert192]

Planted clover as a cover crop in my potato bed last fall, terminated this spring with solarization. I am in zone 5a, would vetch survive our winter? If so, I could use vetch over clover this year and instead of relying on good weather for solarization, just cut below the soil. Stay Well!!!

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Z5a is pretty chill, I doubt that vetch will survive -15F (-26C)

[@jacvosser8162]

LOL@ broke the machine!

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yeah. Some tests were so strained that they had to use compost and germination soil as the baseline test parameters for the soil in our fields.

[@SarahSmith-nr2wj]

Are there species of vetch that are more difficult to remove, or do u just need to terminate before seeds come?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Nah, they are all pretty much the same. We terminate before the pods swell.

[@farm.3287]

Can I know the size of pipe used for vetch drip irrigation?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

The actual dropper is a 16mm drop tape. livingseeds.co.za/garden-supplies/drip-irrigation

[@simonmorapama5729]

powerful. where do I get the fetch seed?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

You can get it here. livingseeds.co.za/inoculated-vetch.html

[@zaferuzun7339]

I assure you from Turkey

[@zaferuzun7339]

when do you have a request

[@karenessauthor]

@Livingseeds Can you really have too much organic matter in your soil?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yes, too much organic matter can lead to waterlogged soil which in turn sets up an anaerobic environment. The issue we had here was not an over supply of organic matter, but the testing process was for soil and our soils’ organic content exceeded the testing parameters for normal soil by a very large margin.

[@flatsville1]

Thanks for showing how to do a hairy vetch termination & mulching the right way. Any other tool that can be used from a standing position? I can get a youngster to flip over the mulch once cut at the soil line. Anybody? Any ideas?...This bending over crap must stop.

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Just use the spade standing up. Flip the first side. Sever the roots standing up with a spade. Flip again so the roots are facing up. Job done. Get a youngster to do the lot. It’s not heavy labour.

[@flatsville1]

@@LivingseedsFarm I was hopind for a recommendation re: one of the long handled Japanese weeding hoes that could handle the root tangle mass.

[@marymcandrew7667]

Mabe a long handled law tool? I have one and used it to pull long grass off new daffs coming up in spring.

[@greighenning9091]

Do you know of anyone who has used livestock to clear vetch from the field, and what the results were like?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Vetch is a livestock food so if you do it intensely I’m sure it would work.

[@agnesmatlhogonolomaropam-ry4cm]

What is the intra-row spacing used?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

2-5 cm

[@dorianriggs8910]

what veriety of vetch do you use?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Grazing vetch.

[@jez-bird]

Is that common or hairy vetch?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Common.

[@ninaventer7461]

Do you work vetch into the soil once it has dried?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Nope not at all, it breaks down remarkably quickly.

[@desertrose8890]

Is vetch frost resistant? I live in the Eastern Freestate, and our winters van be quite harsh. Is this a viable cover crop for this area? If not, what would you suggest?

[@LivingseedsFarm]

Yes vetch is very frost resistant once established. We typically plant at least 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost.