ALLEGANY CO., N.Y. — Now that cover crop seed is widely available in small quantities for home gardeners, it’s easier than ever to incorporate these wonder-workers into your garden plans. While planning your seed purchases, take time to review last year’s season. Did you have a bed or area that was too weedy to give good yields? Needs organic matter? Just took too much time and attention? Consider planting a spring cover crop of oats. They germinate readily in cooler soil, can tolerate wetness fairly well and, planted densely, can quickly cover the soil and prevent weed germination. Oats tolerate a wide pH range but do require lots of sun. (Plant again in early fall to make a winter-killed mulch that protects and conserves soil). Cut or mow at around 45 days of growth to kill it, and either let dry on the surface to mulch transplants, or incorporate into the soil to add organic matter.
Another inexpensive, easy springtime weed suppressor is annual rye, not to be confused with cereal rye, also called garden rye or ryegrass. Annual rye germinates easily in cool soils, and if planted thickly grows rapidly to a dense canopy that crowds out weeds. It can be cut several times (and fed to the pet rabbits or to chickens!) then turned under to decompose and add organic matter to your soil.
Later in spring, after your soil is warmed to at least 50 degrees, you can plant buckwheat, the garden workhorse. Not only does buckwheat suppress weeds and gather up phosphorus for your subsequent crops, but the flowers will make your resident bees very happy. Buckwheat requires cutting just after flowering, unless you want to save seed or risk lots of volunteers (not a really bad thing) the following year. Cut buckwheat approximately 2-3” up from the soil surface, to stop growth. You may then just lay the stalks on the surface to dry and mulch your next crop.
For comprehensive cover crop information see the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education website at www.sare.org/cover-crops. Allegany County residents may call your Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers at (585) 268-7644 Ext.23
–Deb Bigelow – CCE Master Gardener Volunteer
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