Green manure crops are grown specifically for soil health in your organic garden, rather than grown to eat. This may seem like an unnecessary interruption for most food gardeners. The question is, how committed are you to sustainable soil fertility?
My blog this week gives you tips on working with green manure crops. Its a surprisingly easy no-dig soil fertility process to integrate into your organic garden yearly rhythm. You can also look at a movie I did a few years ago on the full process of using green manure crops in a vegetable garden.
Green manure is an unusual term. It is a crop grown in your garden that you cut down at a certain stage and let all the organic substance and minerals from the crop go back into the soil. The crop is effectively “manuring” or fertilising the soil, adding all its life back to the soil. Thus it is called green manure. The use of green manure crops in a rotation has long been a practice of sustainable organic farming. Some farmers may call it cover cropping.
Here are some key tips on using green manure crops:
The time frame from planting the green manure crop and the bed being ready for the next crop is 10 weeks, not much time in your garden year. I find that summer in my sub-tropical climate is often a good time to work with green manure as it is a bit hot to be working in the garden and when the beds are ready after the green manure, it’s Autumn which is a great time in our climate for lots of crops.
We discuss green manure crops at our Workshops or talk to us about our Coaching service.
Authored by Peter Kearney
Have you ever had visions of an abundant vegetable garden full of delicious produce that…
Sunshine and warm weather in Queensland are ideal for growing a colourful garden. But what…
Homegrown food finds its haven under the effect of a sunny climate and fertile soil.…
Brisbane is blessed with a subtropical climate where the long and productive growing season evokes…
Brisbane enjoys its unique subtropical climate. The extended growing season of Brisbane compared to the…
Science and technology have advanced and Brisbane's citizens have begun to understand how important organic…