Planting Cover Crops - Boost Soil & Increase Harvest for Next Spring's Garden/Feeding Your Garden #1

How to plant cover crops in fall/winter to boost soil & increase harvests for next Spring's garden). In this video I share what cover crops are, their benefits and how to get them planted.

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Thanks for gardening with me!

[solarpunkfarmer]

Planting cover crops is hands down the best thing you can do for your soil and the ecosystem in your garden in general. I work with them both in my own garden and as a professional urban agriculture specialist in school and community gardens. Glad you're encouraging people to plant them - more people need to hear about them! I wanted to share a few more tips with the viewers since I work with cover crops to regenerate soil so extensively!

In general, cover crops ARE the silver bullet for regenerating and building soil in a vegetable gardening situation. I have seen them turn compacted, rock hard dirt into dark, crumbly soil within a matter of months. They are even more powerful when used in conjunction with an amendment of high quality compost.

The one thing that has helped me get the most out of cover crops is including a diversity of plant varieties in my cover crop mixes. I will use at least a dozen and up to 50 different seed varieties in my mixes and will try to include native plants. When a cover crop contains a variety of plants that perform different roles in support of one another and the garden ecosystem in general, a certain synergy is achieved. I've seen it happen - the cover crops are up to waist high within a month from sowing and begin attracting all of the kinds of wildlife you want to have in your garden - bees, ladybugs, parasitoid wasps (they are tiny and stingless), lacewings, lizards, and even garter snakes! The richest and healthiest garden soil I have ever seen has always, without fail, been garden soil that had just recently had a cover crop mix with at least a dozen different varieties growing in it.

The main categories of plants that should be included in a multi-species cover crop are grasses, legumes, brassicas, and flowering broadleaf plants. There are also certain plants I like to include in particular - phacelia because it is native and attracts bees, buckwheat because it increases available phosphorus and attracts beneficial parasitoid wasps, lupine because it is native and a very efficient nitrogen fixer, flax because it encourages beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the soil and helps break up compaction, and sorghum sudangrass because it produces more chop and drop material than any other cover crop and is incredibly good at improving soil structure. All of the plants mentioned in this video are great ones too - peas are fantastic nitrogen fixers, daikons are amazing for opening up soil, and sweet alyssum is great at attracting beneficial insects. In general though any native annual plant you can include is going to be a good bet.

Another thing that I have found to be very helpful is to inoculate your seeds. Legumes should be inoculated with the appropriate strain of nitrogen fixing bacteria and pretty much everything besides brassicas should be inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi for best results. The company I buy my cover crop seed from includes a packet of inoculant with their seeds, and most seed companies at the very least carry inoculant.


Happy growing y'all!

[badjansykes]

I’m going to plant some Hairy Vetch as my cover crop. I haven’t found the episode where Brian Lowell looses it talking about Hairy Vetch but the name cracks me up and gives me a smile so right there it’s a good plant. My raised beds this year were planted heavily and are in extreme need of a good cover crop that will totally enrich the soil. Enjoyed the video.

[garden_geek]

I love sweet alyssum as a natural mulch. It forms a beautiful mat over the soil that really helps retain water. And as you well know water is a precious resource here in CA and we need to save as much as we can!

[marieheffern]

Finally catching up on videos after the little one was born! After having to maintain my garden from afar during a home renovation, moving back home in a week after 6.5 months just in time to get some cover crops and fall crops in! Excited for this series and will definitely be doing low-maintenance cover crops as we get used to life with a newborn in our newly renovated home!

[susangla]

Fantastic video. Lots of great information, clearly presented. Thanks!

[snowbirdgardener]

I'm trying lentils, from the grocery store, as a cover crop in my containers, this year. I soaked them overnight and they came up in less than a week.

[flowerpixel]

Your dog is so adorable. Subscribing to the podcast because I like to listen to podcasts while I'm driving!

[CliffWarren]

This is kind of technical, but brassicas can go a long way to clean your soil of fungal diseases. I’ve been using mustard (a brassica) and this past year I believe I started to see a result. For the first time in a while I saw no fusarium.

[jeffstanhope]

i just learned about cover crops this summer(it's my first year gardening) so i bought some white mustard seed and i'm sowing it into my raised beds as the veggies finish for the year.. next year is gonna be GREAT....

[adhs]

I absolutely ur channel, it’s helping me tremendously! Thank you 🙏 ❤️

[freshlandscape]

Hey Kim! Haven’t been here in a while things have been busy here but I just wanted to tell you keep up what your doing and have a great day, happy fall y’all!

[omaralhammadi]

I am so excited for my next spring garden 🪴 / thanks so much for these wonderful tips 🙏

[nelehbysagiv]

Hi, CaliKim!!. Learnt a lot, as usual!!. Thank you, so much!!. 🌹🌻

[johnoshiro]

You should inoculate the legumes to get the best out of nitrogen fixing.

[vkfiles]

Calikim, I made a video showing you my garden Bc I have 3 questions. I live in la Mirada, zone 10b… like you… my cucumber plant is thriving with lots of flowers… why should I pull them? Okay the pepper plants… do I have to cut them to “over winter” them? Do I have to bring them indoors? If so? Do I have to give them grow lights? Lastly I want to have tomatoes over the winter so can I do that inside? No snow here…

[randydeshane]

Will lettuce work as a cover crop? I have seeds that are a few years old and I thought that would be a good use for them.

[larainechavez]

Thanks for the information on worm castings and the new Vitality product. I had never heard about worm castings until I started watching your videos. Giveaway: What I learned from watching this video is that worm castings help fight pests and diseases, and boost the immune system of the plant. I will use worm castings in my vegetable garden and in my potted plants if I am selected for the giveaway.

[authentichomestead]

Love the video. I'm located in northern Illinois, what cover crops are recommended for colder climates, if any? ~ Laurie

[Prettykittychimi]

The chickens have destroyed 100% of the cover crops in the backyard but the front yard is going strong!