Now is the time for planting your cover crops. Below you’ll find some helpful cover crop tips for Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Today in Nashville, the forecast calls for bitterly cold weather to come in this week. If your like us, you’ve probably harvested your crops that need harvesting and maybe you’ve gone a step further and even put in a root cellar. Kudos to you if you have!
Now you can do your garden a favor and at the same time give it a good start for next spring. You can help your soil with mulch and green manure. These two types of soil amendments will effectively turn winter’s blustering winds into constructive forces that will actually improve the family vegetable plot.
Mulching is the easiest step. Simply gather up all the garden plant materials you can find and put it in an area where decomposition can take place. Also, this will save you from having to burn the leaves!
In gardening “green manure” refers to crops which have already been uprooted and have decomposed. The then dying plants are of a type of cover crop often grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil.
Some of the best types of cover crops for Nashville and Middle Tennessee are barley, buckwheat, cow peas, millet, winter rye, and winter wheat to name a few. All you need to do is rake the soil and then broadcast the seeds over the soil. You should have a cover crop fairly quickly.
In the spring, turn it under with spade while the plants are still tender, then plow or turn them into the soil. Be sure to do this before they bloom or you’ll be fighting the weeds all summer!
For more tips on planting cover crops in Nashville and Middle Tennessee give us a call or contact your local extension service.
