Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

Hi Everyone,  

I am new to the Peaceful Valley Farm Blog site, but will be offering ideas and comments regularly.  Hope I can be of help with your farm and garden questions.

I  have a new homestead that I just moved into last May, so this winter was my first opportunity to plant fruit trees.  The soil is red clay dirt, typical to the California Sierra Foothills.  We dug our holes about 10 times the size of the root ball, amended our soil with compost, worm castings, oyster shell lime, gypsum, kelp, greensand and some microbial inoculant to get the microbial activity going in the soil.  The root ball now has a good amount of room for the roots to move out and food to nourish the young trees.

We created a new fenced in area for this orchard, so the whole area has not been amended.  My plan is to rototill the area surrounding the trees, amend the soil with similar amendments and plant a summer cover crop.  This will aid the surrounding soil into having more tilth and nutrients, so that when the young trees roots reach the edge of their prepared hole they will find a healthier, easier to move into soil, instead of hard red clay.  

We will have the opportunity to amend the surrounding soil by planting summer and winter cover crops this summer and winter.  Next summer I will probably use the area between the young trees to plant a summer vegetable garden.

Good Growing,  Kalita

PVFS Customer Question with Staff Response:

Question
Hi,
I have a 85′ X 100′ fenced orchard area that doubles as a chicken yard. I want to plant a cover crop to enrich the soil. Then I want to plant your chicken field mix. Which cover crop would be safe to share with chickens? I was going to broadcast it by hand and attempt to lightly rake it in. I live up near Susanville, CA on a southern facing gentle slope. I can irrigate a few times with a hose and sprinkler.

Thank you,

Answer
Hi,

When you say that you want the cover crop to enrich the soil, do you mean that you are planning to till it in later on? Usually, a green manure crop to enrich the soil is one that you grow then incorporate back into the soil so that the organic matter breaks down and releases all the nutrients it accumulated. That is considered the best way to build up your soil for future crops, including the Omega 3 Chicken Forage Blend. If that’s what you want to do, you would choose an annual cool season crop such as the Soil Builder Mix, plant it now (although you might not get a lot of growth until Spring, since the soil is cool), and till it under (roto-till, double dig, etc.) and wait 4-8 weeks before planting your chicken pasture.

As far as a cover crop to grow with a chicken pasture seed, I don’t think that would be a good idea. The blend itself is good for the soil (it has clovers, cowpeas, and alfalfa which are all Nitrogen fixers) and as long as you prepare the soil before hand by sowing a green manure crop or adding compost and fertilizer, it will grow well.

The Omega-3 mix is an irrigated mix, by the way, so you’ll have to water it probably a couple times a week through the dry times (depending on your soil, natural rainfall, etc.).

Give me a call if you want to discuss this any further.
Hope that helps and thank you for growing organically!

A PVFS Customer Question with staff answer.

Question:
Hi there,

We inherited a pasture with a terrible weed problem. I’m new to farming and would like to some how “magically” transform it into a wildflower meadow with some food for our hens. From my reading i understand that the best way to do this is to till it a few times and then plant several generations of cover crops that will die back as the new one is seeded in order to smother the weeds and make room for our meadow. Can you recommend some varieties or mixes that we can grow to make this happen? My first concern is crowding out the weeds, next is that we would love it if our chickens can eat it. We can irrigate if necessary although it’s 2/3 acre so that’s not too desirable. We live near Portland OR and we would like to get started before our weeds have another year to take over. As a bonus question, I’d love some suggestions for meadow mixes that would help feed the hens as well. Thank you for any advice you may have!

Answer:
The best way to rid your pasture of weeds is to exhaust the seed bank and then plant what you want to grow. To exhaust the seed bank, till the area, water and then hoe, flame or VERY shallowly till to kill the seedlings. Rinse and repeat 2 -4 times depending on how strong the seed bank is. The idea is to germinate as many of the seeds on the surface as possible, which is why you don’t want to till deeply which just brings more seeds to the surface.

When you are ready to plant (right after your final weeding) spread some compost and your seeds of choice. Water and you should have a great pasture.

As far as suggestions for what to plant, the Grasses and Wild Flower Mix (SCG055) would be good, or the Sheep Fescue (SCG295) mixed with an annual or perennial clover (chickens LOVE clover!) and the Pacific NW Wildflower mix (SWF810), Mediterranean Dryland Mix (SWF910), Hummingbird Mix (SWF670), or any of the other mixes that catch you eye. The Omega-3 Chicken Forage Blend is a great chicken pasture mix, but it does need summer irrigation.

Hope this helps, and thanks for growing organically!

Due to overwhelming demand, Carolyn Singer has added another workshop at Peaceful Valley! Hurry and sign up before this one fills up too!

Award-winning local author Carolyn Singer, will be hosting a workshop about Fall planting emphasizing season extending & bare root preparation, and will also talk about wildflowers, native grasses, bulbs, meadow gardens, cover crops,  and deer resistant plants. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions.

If you plan to attend, you must register soon! The 10/10 workshop filled quickly.

9:30-11:30am at Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply (map)

Call 530-272-4769 x106

The cost is $10. Participants will also receive a 10% off coupon for use in the store.

From her website CarolynSingerGardens.com

“Carolyn gives practical garden information as a gardener, designer, teacher and writer who grew up with a gardening family in Sonoma County, California. She later added to her gardening experiences in Montana and Colorado before returning to garden in northern California.

Carolyn has been gardening in the Sierra foothills (elevation 2600 feet) since 1977. She writes a regular garden column, the seasoned gardener for The Union in Grass Valley CA.”

by Amber TIppett, PV Store Manager & Willow Hein, FreshmanFarmer & PV employee

“Cover Crop” is a general term referring to a crop grown to cover and protect the soil. The term “Green Manure” would more specifically apply to a Cover Crop grown with the intent to till back into the soil. Below we’ve outlined a few Cover Crop Solutions for clay or compacted soils, vegetable bed rotations & erosion control. Looking for more solutions? Check out our Cover Crop Solution Finder.

Cover Crops (or, “Green Manure” crops) for Clay or Compacted Soil

Planting cover crops is an excellent way to help break up compacted and clay soils. Plant something with a large taproot, or deep reaching root system that can penetrate the hard soil or compacted soil pan. Examples of these include Bell Beans (SCL700), Winter Rye (SCN395), Rape (SCN900), Daikon (SCN112) and Mustard (SCN755 or SCN750). You’ll want to plant these cool weather crops in the fall after the first rains when the soil is softer and can be tilled and prepared for planting. The cover crops will grow all winter, and then can be turned in during the spring to add organic matter to the soil. The cover cropped area can then be planted with vegetable or ornamental crops, or planted with a summer cover crop to continue breaking up the soil if it is still too compacted. Examples of good summer cover crops for this purpose are Crotolaria Juncea (SCL815) and Sesbania (SCL855). You will need to irrigate these crops through the summer if you live in an area where it doesn’t rain.

Cover Crops (or, “Green Manure” crops) to plant in a Vegetable Rotation

Planting a winter cover crop is a great way to replenish your soil after a season of vegetable or production cropping. You want something that will fix nitrogen back into the soil, hold the soil in place during winter storms, and grow vigorously for maximum organic matter and weed suppression. Peaceful Valley carries a great cool weather cover crop mix (Soil Builder SCM120, SCM121) which contains bell beans, winter peas, purple vetch, common vetch, and cayuse oats, a blend that addresses all the above-mentioned needs. The bell beans, peas, and vetches are legumes that fix nitrogen from the air through a symbiotic relationship with a group of naturally occurring soil bacteria known as rhizobacteria. The bacteria form nodules on the roots of the plants and convert gaseous nitrogen into plant-usable nitrogen. Be sure to inoculate (ISE350, ISE505, ISE500) your seed with the rhizobacteria before you plant it to make sure this process happens in your cover crop. The oats provide scaffolding for the vetch to climb up and have fibrous root systems that suppress weeds and help with erosion control. Other great cover crops for the winter include clovers and alfalfa.

Cover Crops for Erosion Control

Erosion of hillsides can be a major problem in some areas, and should be a concern to anyone who wishes to protect valuable topsoil. Erosion control mixes typically consist of annual grasses and clovers that have extensive root systems and strong reseeding abilities. The Premium Erosion Mix (SEC300) has wildflowers in the mix to enhance the beauty of the area. Individual varieties of seed for erosion control include Crimson Clover (SCL310), Ryegrass (SCG560), BlandoBbrome (SCG150), and Zorro Fescue (SCG299). Timing is an important issue in establishing an erosion crop. It should be planted in the Fall while the soil is still warm, and be given supplemental irrigation until the natural rains can take over. If supplemental irrigation cannot be provided, the area should be covered with Jute Netting (EC400) after it is seeded. If irrigation will be provided year round, then perennial grasses or clovers can be planted instead of annuals.

Currently there seems to be a lot of discussion about rototilling vs. not rototilling. My husband is big on rototilling, I on the other hand am thinking, enough already! BUT, how do cover crops fit into that equation? Isn’t part of the point to use them as green manure: and if so, don’t they have to be broken up pretty good? Also, I can’t imagine trying to hack them out in the spring! They develop some pretty hefty root systems.

And, just to add to the intrigue, we have two gardens. One garden we have done a lot of work to build up the soil; what we are lacking (in my estimation is good soil microbes. I rarely see earth worms). The other garden (or garden in progess) is the remains of an area that someone filled with sand so we are trying to build up the soil using Cover Crops.

We planted a cover crop winter mix in the fall, in our backyard terraced garden. It has done great, I have been prepping to cut it down, give it time to decompose. I have been really into the no till philosophies, read up about the possibility of just leaving it cut down, no till, as a mulch. But I just read something else that says the nitrogen benefits are lost if it is not tilled in. I am confused, any advice? I am all about the low maintenance gardening, companion planting, without too much intervention (not that we are opposed to the work).

Fall is my favorite time of the year except for one thing. When do I pull up my still-producing garden to put in the winter cover crop? I have purchased it already, so it will happen. I’m just not sure when.

The light is so beautiful now, the days are definitely shorter, but the bees are still stimulating the green beans to produce and the tomatoes are still ripening. I know soon I will have to step in, but when? I started the garden from seeds, many that were saved from the year before.

It was fun to try to trick the cold weather into leaving the seedlings alone enough to germinate and grow. They have produced an abundance of produce that has allowed me to freeze and dry enough for the next year as well as share with my neighbors and co-workers. It’s a good feeling to be able to do that, but I still have to decide.

When? Logically, it should be before the rains start, which is pretty soon, but I guess I don’t yet want to give up the fun and work and good flavor of picking dinner every night. I really like visiting the garden two to three times a day. We share a lot of memories.

Maybe this will be the year that winter starts late, or maybe I’m fooling myself because I’m not ready. I’m just going to enjoy it all right now and when it’s time, I hope I’ll know.

I think that cover crops have great potential for use in suburban environments, and I’m not just talking about large swaths of green grass that cover our yards…

Many Versatile Uses 

Cover crops, such as clover, rye, vetch, grains, certain peas and beans, and many beautiful pollinator-attracting plants, have the ability to pull nutrients from deep in the soil, effectively mining minerals out of the ground and making them available to other plants.  They serve as great “green” or Nitrogen-rich compost material, and many will readily regrow when sheared.  They can be used as mulch by cutting lush growth and letting it lay on the ground around plants.  You can keep unwanted weeds at bay because a well-selected cover crop will choke them out.  Many cover crops are drought-tolerant once established, needing little supplemental water, yet casting shade and retaining soil moisture underneath their small canopies.  They can serve as meadows…pollinator gardens…erosion control…nutrient retention…I could go on…and on…

Books

There are many books on the subject, a favorite of mine is Gaia’s Garden – A Guide to Homescale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway.  Peaceful Valley carries many books on the subject of cover cropping as well.

Nature abhors a vacuum – weeds will make their way to bare patches of soil in our yards, and as nature has designed, break up the earth to allow for larger shrubs and trees to grow with the help of the wind and birds.   Mother Nature continually tries to reforest herself, but we can use this to our advantage by planting a cover crop that will stop weeds from germinating.  Are you losing a battle with weeds on your property?  A cover crop may be the answer for you.

My Yard 

Last Summer my husband and I decided to convert half of our back lawn into an orchard.  Now I’m not talking an acre here, just about 20′ x 30′ – enough room for a few drawf fruit trees like most suburban lots.  But first, the soil definitely needed to be improved.

In the middle of our blazing Northern California summer, we stopped watering the future orchard site to kill the grass (we could have sheet mulched as well).  Once the fall rains came, we tilled the dead grass into the soil, and spread a cover crop seed.  With the moisture in the soil from the rains, the cover crop germinated quickly, and covered the area with lush green growth in short time. 

In late winter, we tilled this cover crop back into the soil, providing nitrogen, and other trace elements to the newly planted bare-root fruit trees (which have put on quite a bit of growth just since January!).  Our next step is to reseed a cover crop around the trees that will cover the bare earth and attract pollinators to our mini-orchard.

I hope that you will consider a versatile cover crop for your many needs as well.

Katie at GardenPunks