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winter crops and cover crops/green manures (garden scale)

posted 09/10/2013 14:48:09

S Carreg

I'm not sure what to do with my garden in the winter. This year (season 1) I have mostly grown annual
Joined: Mar 29, 2013 Posts: 220 Location: De C ymru (West Wales, UK)

vegetables. Currently the garden is: a 45' bed half of which is runner beans, still cropping heavily, half of which was peas, broad beans, and onions, now mostly out, and going back to weeds this bed will be covered with a polytunnel this autumn a large round bed with: radishes gone to seed, spinach gone to seed, jerusalem artichokes, sunflowers, bush beans, cukes, calendula, cabbages and caulis - most out now - courgettes and squashes, and strawberries most of this bed will be empty in the next month or so three raised beds currently with the end of the pea crop, mustard greens, spinach, red orach, and rocket gone to seed, some onions and leeks, salsify a large bed I am building, with 8" woodchip, 8" cow muck, and 12" hay, to rot down fruit area (raspberries) small greenhouse. there is other growing space dedicated to large-scale strawberries, potatoes, and root crop space for next year, as well as a lot of fruit, all of this is outside the kitchen garden - i will be tilling a new potato patch this autumn and giving it the manure-and-mulch treatment over winter, as well as on the old patch, to prep it for beets, etc next year

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The bed I am building of soil is planned to sit and rot all winter and get perennial veg and some fruit in the spring, so that's fine. The raised beds I was planning to let the stuff that has gone to seed, self-seed a bit, and also use them to grow winter leeks. The round bed will be mostly empty. The soil is poor - little top soil (it was scraped off apparently), rocky, compacted, and weedy. I have plenty of cow muck and hay mulch. My plan was to wait until the annuals are all out, then weed thoroughly, and pile on a good layer of manure, seaweed, and hay to improve the soil ready for next spring. The long bed will have a tunnel and this is where I was planning to plant most of the things I have starting in trays right now - kale, chard, chinese greens. These should be ok temperature wise in a tunnel in our climate. I may have some extra greens to go into other space outside, but at the moment I do not have any other plans to plant over winter. I would love suggestions for 1) any other winter food crops - temps rarely get below -5 C and we rarely get significant snowfall (last year was about 12" over 2-3 weeks and that was it), but it is WET and WINDY. 2) other things to plant as cover crops or green manures that would improve my soil. OR would it be best to just manure and mulch the heck out of all bare areas and not bother planting anything there at all, and hope it's all much happier come spring?

John Elliott pollinator Joined: May 08, 2013 Posts: 506 Location: Augusta, GA

posted 09/10/2013 15:52:07

Turnips, clover, and chicory. Just broadcast it and see what comes up. Don't your radishes and spinach and rocket start sprouting volunteers about this time? You should encourage them.

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14

S Carreg

posted 09/10/2013 17:29:36

Thanks. I've got a fair amount of white clover volunteering anyway, I don't pull that out. I will get some turnip and
Joined: Mar 29, 2013 Posts: 220 Location: De C ymru (West Wales, UK)

chicory. I'm a little worried about my winter brassica plans as the cabbages are currently badly under attack by caterpillers, will run the chickens through after they all come out. No, those aren't self-seeding yet, the seeds on the plants from spring/early summer don't seem quite ripe yet and as this is my first season here there was nothing else before that. I am just leaving that all along till they start dropping their seed, to see what happens.

I was wondering if it's worth sowing anything like winter rye as a green manure?

Conner Patrick

posted 09/12/2013 21:58:49

Joined: Sep 06, 2013 Posts: 10

I'm about to purchase lots of winter rye, golden flax, daikon radish, and buckwheat for winter cover crops. Any experience with these? Can someone inform me of their uses and what's unique about them? I know flax can be used for textiles and the seeds are full of great oils, but this is garden-scale at this point. Rye is good for grain and for fodder, yes? Daikon and rye good for breaking up clay? And buckwheat also edible... good for anywhere? Lol. Thanks in advance permafolks. Btw, I'm in GA, USA.

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subject: winter crops and cover crops/green manures (garden scale)

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