Cover Crops

There are many things we must get done before we head into winter.  The fields that once grew the produce that you found in your shares this season must be readied for the freezing and the upcoming season.

The plastic that was placed on the fields to keep the soil moist and warm is removed. We use an implement called a bed ripper.

After the plastic is removed from the soil we need to disk up the soil to smooth it out and cut any leftover plant matter so that it can biodegrade faster.

This creates a fresh bed for the cover crops.  

We plant in late fall after the harvest is over. We usually have all of our cover crops planted by mid-November.

The purpose of a cover crop is to:

•  to ensure soil fertility
• to prevent soil erosion by precipitation and wind. 
• to break disease cycles and reduce populations of bacterial and fungal diseases

We primarily plant rye but other examples of cover crops include wheat, barley, and oats.

We use rye because, in general, it is cheaper and we can cut and bale it as straw for animal bedding and to cover our strawberries and keep them warm for the winter.