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Green Manure
Green manure is the growing a specific crop to be mowed and added to compost, or
to be turned into the soil to feed soil micro-organisms. It is a good choice for
building to the 4 - 6% target for organic matter content in the top 6 inches of
soil.
Green manuring is an inexpensive way to improve
soil fertility. You might be able to afford a bag of fertilizer, make a
wheelbarrow of compost, or get a pickup load of farm manure, but you can grow a
garden full of green manure.
A fall planted green manure holds soil nutrients and makes some growth over the
winter rains. Mowed for compost or turned into the soil in the early spring it
feeds the microorganism - organic matter (MOOM) process vital to improving soil
fertility.
If legumes are part of the green manure crop they also have the ability to fix
atmospheric nitrogen, providing one of the major plant and micro-organism
nutrients for free.
After early crops have been harvested, a summer sown green manure can be used to
out compete weeds thus helping to clean the garden.
Finally, green manures can be inter-sown with 6 week old vegetable crop plants
to add additional organic matter even while the crop is growing.
Garden Green is a mixture of winter rye, winter peas, and vetch which is good
for fall planting. Fava beans, a legume, can, in mild winters, fix atmospheric
nitrogen. It can grow 3 to 4 feet high before being turn in, putting hugh
amounts of organic matter into garden soils.
Various clovers are useful for summer planting as well as nitrogen fixing. White
clover is a good pathway cover and can be inter-planted with root crops. Yellow
sweet clover is deep rooted; it can bring back to the topsoil nutrients which
have been leached lower. It grows well in conjunction with squash plants.
Crimson clover has an attractive flower and is a good ground cover if any ground
is open because of an early harvest.
Buckwheat is also summer sown. It is very fast growing, thus, useful in out
competing weeds, but it is time to mow it or turn it in when flowers start to
show in about 6 weeks.
There is no more efficient way of adding organic matter to garden soils than
turning in a green manure crop. When drenched with a compost tea before being
turn in the combination improves soil fertility. Because micro-organism and
organic matter need to frequently replenished, green manures and compost teas
should be part of the organic gardeners seasonal routines.
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Sustainable
Living Through Organic Gardening