Instead of leaving soil naked, coat it with cover crops
Grow "green manure" to keep soil from eroding, weeds from exploding and to add nutrients.
Buckwheat makes a good summer cover crop for gardens
Need a summer cover crop to add nutrients to your garden's soil? Try planting buckwheat.
Soil Improvement and Cover Crop Resources for Small Farms
Even though different soils have some properties that cannot be changed, such as texture, soil quality can be improved by implementing good management strategies. Soils can be improved for water holding capacity, drainage, structure, and even the ability for plant roots to penetrate through the soil.
Function & Selection of Cover Crops
When selecting a cover crop for a particular field, keep the end in mind. How does the crop need to function? Are you in need of a permanent crop like grass to stabilize soil and reduce erosion? Or perhaps you’re looking for a crop to increase soil organic matter and supply a nitrogen source in the winter, between cash crops? Maybe you need a summer cover crop ...
Establishing Winter Cover Crops
In theory cover crops can protect soil from erosion, improve soil tilth, supply nitrogen (N), reduce weeds, provide nectar and pollen for beneficial insects, increase the winter survival of mycorrhyza, help to manage soil-borne diseases, and provide other benefits. In practice, it’s often difficult to establish cover crops in commercial rotations well enough to produce enough ground...
Exploring Cover Crops in Central Oregon
Cover crops receive a lot of attention for the many benefits they can provide, such as: weed suppression, erosion prevention, improved water infiltration and water holding capacity, improved nutrient cycling, and the creation of pollinator habitat. There is an abundance of information in academic literature and from seed companies on the use of cover crops; however, there is only...
Relay Seeding Cover Crops in Fall and Winter Harvested Vegetables
Lots of vegetable crops (i.e. winter squash, some brassicas, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, etc.) are harvested late. This makes it difficult to establish over-wintering cover crops after harvest. On many farms, these fields are left bare over the winter. Sometimes there are opportunities to establish cover crops by relay seeding (inter-seeding) them into established vegetable ...
Estimating Nitrogen from Cover Crops, Part 2
Cover crops are widely used to reduce soil erosion and increase soil organic matter. When legumes are included in the seed mixture, the cover crop can provide a lot of nitrogen (N) and reduce the need for fertilizer. The N content of cover crop stands varies widely (figure 1), and we don’t currently have a reliable method for estimating the nitrogen value of the ...
Selecting Successful Cover Crops for Your Hop Yard
This fact sheet is designed to help guide commercial hop growers in selecting cover crops. The guide discusses benefits and considerations or cons for four different cover crop strategies: annual fall planted, annual spring planted, annual re-seeding and perennial sod. Cover crop suggestions are tailored to western Oregon climate and regional cropping practices.
Estimating Nitrogen & Dry Matter From Cover Crops
Cover crops are used by many farmers, but very few know how much nitrogen (N) or dry matter they are getting from their cover crops. There are some methods in the literature for estimating cover crop contributions. We are evaluating these methods in on-farm WSARE-funded trials in the Northern Willamette Valley to find the most practical and accurate method for use on ...