When the Southern Cover Crops Council held its annual conference recently in Baton Rouge, I was fortunate to sit in on panel discussions with farmers and specialty crops (vegetables, fruits, nuts and ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... For an Earth-friendly garden, keep a succession of plants in the soil by planting cover crops. These are plants grown to improve the soil rather than for ...

While farmers plant millions acres of plants like rye and clover to boost soil health and crowd out weeds, a cover crop does the same thing in the smallest home garden. With cover crops, a vegetable ...

Stop throwing money at soil problems that fix themselves for free. Healthy soil does not demand expensive inputs, complicated routines, or endless hours of work. It thrives when it gets the right kind ...

A few weeks ago a reader and a friend from the pool who lives near Loudonville asked me if a person could leave his cereal rye in the field this season. I said I’m not sure, but I’ll find out if that ...

Have you heard of cover crops? While farmers usually use these during the off-season to protect soil, gardeners usually overlook this tool. Healthy soil is the backbone of every thriving garden and ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – No one wants to think of harvest’s end as the vegetable garden reaches peak, but now’s the time to plant over-winter cover crops to improve your soil for next season. If you’re not ...

Cover crops are literally a green blanket for the soil. They are fast-growing plants grown in garden/field spaces opened after harvest. Cover crop plants serve to increase nutrients, introduce organic ...

Put your garden to work over winter by planting a cover crop this fall. Covering the soil with plants that are turned into the soil or smothered and allowed to decompose in spring provides many ...

"Fall is not the end of the gardening year; it is the start of next year's growing season. The mulch you lay down will protect your perennial plants during the winter and feed the soil as it decays, ...

The ground may still be covered in snow, but now is an excellent time to start planning to improve the soil in your vegetable gardens for the planting season ahead. Cover crops are effective tools in ...