Blog by Brenda Altman
It’s winter, keep gardening, there’s plenty you can do. Plant cool crops that can thrive in cool temperatures. Cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and the like. Garlic and onions are good candidates, too.
Not interested in winter crops? Plant cover crops instead. Reinvigorate the soil and prevent soil loss. There are several cover crops that do well in the winter. Consult the USDA Hardiness Zone to see what to plant. There is also information on the seed packet regarding when to plant. Cover crops can do double duty, sometimes triple duty. They suppress weeds, they keep soil microorganisms busy, and their roots hold the soil in.
Some, like legumes, introduce nitrogen back into the soil. Some attract beneficial insects that prey on spring pests.
Weeds, who likes to pull weeds? Not me. By planting competing crops, you can suppress and crowd them out. Clover is an excellent choice to suppress weeds. A brief description of hairy vetch, Vicia villosa, is as follows:
Hairy vetch is a hard-working, fast-growing cover crop adding large amounts
Nitrogen is added to the soil, benefitting the next crop. It grows quickly and densely, smothering and helping to prevent pesky weeds.
Cover crop, the daikon radish also works as a cover crop. It has an aggressive taproot that aerates the soil and establishes paths for water and organisms.
Many microorganisms work in conjunction with plant roots to provide nutrients to the plants. If there are no plants, microorganism numbers decline. Cover crops provide a home for their roots. In spring, these microorganisms, like nitrogen-fixers, convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable nitrogen, like ammonia and NH3.
When done, the cover crop can be cut up and left as thatch or put in your compost pile. Using cover crops will decrease your use of fertilizers and expand your appreciation of the complexities and interconnections in the living soil.
References:
UCANR Sustainable Agriculture Research& Education Program 2017, “Cover crops”. UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Cover Crop Your Garden, By Alyssa Leventis, UC Davis
Cover Crop, “Hairy Vetch” seedling package. Botanical Interests, Inc.,Bloomberg, Co.