Green Manures(cover crops)

Green manures are grown primarily but for the benefit they bring to the ground and are not to be harvested. Chemical fertilizers only help the nutrient level of the soil, but do nothing for the microbial life and structure of the soil.

Organic methods may be slower, but they have long and lasting benefits. Green manures pull nutrients such as nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen from the air. They increase the water retention of the soil. They also act as a catch crop, so instead of the nutrients being wash away or down into the soil to burn the roots, the manures decay slowly to release the nutrients and make them available to feed the plant. So there is less chance to over feed your crop.

Certain green manures or cover crops are used to correct various problems. If your garden is low in nitrogen, plant a legume. If you are battling weeds, use a fast growing plant like buckwheat. To increase the till of your soil plant a cereal crop like winter wheat or rye, which tends to suppress weed growth and fight against bad nematodes.

Cover crops help to stimulant microbial activity, which improves your soil fertility. John Evans, who grows organically, has set 18 Alaskan records and 9 Guinness Book of World Records. Charles H. Wilber, who grows his tomatoes organically, has set several world record by using a combination of composting and green manures. His record is a 28' - 0" tomato 'tree' - which yielded about 350 lbs of tomatoes each - all of which is an official Guinness Record (cover, 1987 "Guinness Book of World Records"). And he did it with nothing out of the ordinary - not even fertilizers. Just compost, mulch, and consistent watering(pond water). That's all!!

And it's not only ten-fold yields of tomatoes that can be grown with Charles' simple methods. He has also grown 17' - 6" okra plants, 18 lb. radishes, 4 lb. pears, 1/2 lb. plums, 150 lb. squash, 105 lb. watermelons, 3.5 lb. tomatoes, 3" peanuts, 18 lb. cucumbers, 17' - 0" sweet corn plants, 20' - 0" peach trees in two years from seed, yielding 32 eight quart baskets of 5" peaches, 14' - 0" persimmon trees in one year from seed, 6' - 0" pecan trees in one year from seed . Charles says that any vegetables, fruit, berries, nuts and flowers will respond just as prolifically to his simple and natural methods.

Green manures also help to protect from pests using plants that produce substances that slow down or kill pests or diseases. Canola (rapeseed), mustard or other brassicas grown before a wheat crop can kill off disease by using plants that do not get the disease and therefore do not host it (provide a home for it). This is called a "break crop". Diseases and other organisms that have no host will eventually die off

Greater biological activity can reduce or kill off fusarium, phytophthora and other soil diseases. They also help to reduce erosion and smother out weeds as opposed to giving them an opening to germinate. Others can break up hardpan and pull up nutrients washed deep into the subsoil. Alfalfa can grow down 15 feet or more into the subsoil. These are just a few benefits from cover crops.