Cover Crops
We build our soil fertility with cover crops.

What does that mean? What does it look like? Basically, instead of having an open field, we plant a crop to cover and protect our soil while it grows. The type of crop depends on our objectives. If we want to smother weeds, we plant sorghum. If we want to increase microbial life immediately, we plant buckwheat. If we want to add nitrogen to the soil, we plant vetch, or clover. A lot of times we plant a combination of these. If we want to encourage beneficial insects, or feed our bees, we plant a flowering crop. There is a time and place for every different cover crop.

The main advantage of the cover crop is to keep a living root in the soil at all times. This is because plants have a symbiotic relationship with soil microorganisms. Whenever a plant photosynthesizes, it pumps out sugars (called exudates) through pores in the roots. This directly feeds the soil microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi. 

Why do we want to feed bacteria and fungi? Because these little boogers go out into the world (aka the soil) and scavenge nutrients that the plant needs. A soil can be full of nitrogen, but unless it is in a form that is available to be absorbed or taken by the plant, it's worthless. Bacteria and fungi do just this: they modify the nutrient so it can be taken up. 

When we have microbial rich soil, we have healthy plants. A vegetable is only as healthy as the soil in which it grows, just as a human is only as healthy as the food in which it eats.

This photograph is of hollyhocks blooming outside of Werners Seeds, a small, local, independently owned and third generation seed company. We buy all our cover crop seeds from here. I always enjoy having an excuse to visit Gene and Paul Werner! Stepping into their store in their barn is like taking a step back in time. No computer, no website, no fancy gizmos or gadgets. Only two smart men who know what seed to plant when, who had success with it, and who didn't.