Most Common Kinds Of Cover Crops; Mulch - Troy-Bilt Horse Owner's Manual

(Photo 5/33) A heavy mulch of hay and grass
clippings can be easily moved to the garden in
a large wheeled cart and distributed between
crop rows with
a
fork.
When a layer of mulch breaks down and the
level gets low, it should be covered up once
again with more mulch material. You can do
this once or twice more until the crop is ready
for harvest. Then, you can till the crop and
mulch into the soil together in one pass with
the tiller.
You don't have to rake or shred mulch if you
use your Troy-Bilt Tiller to till it right into the
soil. If you have grown some extra tall cover
crops such as rye grass that got too high before
you could till it under as green manure, you can
cut the rye grass down and spread it as mulch
elsewhere in the garden.
rye
barley
millet
other common crops used:
cowpeas lespedeza
oats red clover
soybeans common- vetch
MULCH
To keep down weeds between rows in the
garden, mulches are generally applied in the
mid-growing season, after the soil has been
thoroughly warmed up and has been well cul-
tivated. See Photo 5/33. At that time, a heavy
mulch of hay, old straw, grass clippings or oth-
er dense organic materials is used to control
the weeds. Some people even use newspapers,
and others use rolls of plastic "mulch." News-
papers take quite a while to break down and
decay and the plastic does not break down at
all, so it contributes nothing to the garden.
During a cold, wet year, it's best not to mulch
at all.
If you are going to plant later crops the next
year, such as corn, squash, melons, or beans,
you can plant a perennial cover crop. You might
want to till under a perennial crop of winter
rye or wheat in May; or let it grow until late
May, then cut it down for mulch elsewhere and
till under the remaining stubble for its nutri-
tional value to your soil.
MOST COMMON KINDS OF COVER CROPS
There is a large variety of good cover crops
such as: grasses like winter rye, annual and
perennial: grains like buckwheat; edible veg~
etables like kale; and legumes (plants that have
the ability to fix nitrogen from the air like alf-
alfa and soybeans). It would be best to consult
your local county agent as to which crop would
most benefit your particular soil. Here are some
nutrients to your soil. Because buckwheat
grows so fast, you can plant one crop on your
planned garden area in late May (in northern
climates) and till it under when the buckwheat
is about 12 to 14 inches high. While the growth
is still a luscious green, this height is easiest
to handle because it eliminates most tangling.
Also, it will be readily digested by earthworms
and soil life.
After you have tilled in the first crop of buck-
wheat, you can sow a second crop of it immedi-
ately. Buckwheat can germinate in as little as
five days. Sometime in August, when the
second crop is again 12 to 14 inches tall, till
it under. Then, plant either annuals or peren-
nials for a cover crop to carry through the
winter, depending upon your need.
The third crop you plant will protect your
soil from erosion over the winter. Remember,
you can plant cover crops in northern climates
into September. Just decide when and what
you are going to place in the garden area the
next year.
If you are going to plant the next year,
it is best to plan an annual cover crop to
carry through the winter. A cover crop such
as annual rye grass, which will grow to about
15 to 20 inches high by winter, will protect
the soil, hold an even temperature in the ground
and enable earthworms and other organisms
in the soil to work throughout the winter. The
annual rye grass will be completely devoured
by soil life when the snow melts in the spring
and you can plant your early garden.
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