Cool site Alan!
There is nothing quite like a crop used for green manure!
There is nothing quite like a crop used for green manure!
This migt be something I could use as a cover crop on vacant land that I mow for mulch. That might be a possibility.
This area has two primary soil types, either light sand or a heavy, almost clay loam. The result is either too dry, or too wet, sometimes in the same field.
I know it is said that you can't "make" topsoil but in four seasons I did a lot to get that sand to show some color and retain moisture. Left to my own I could have that into a very productive plot. I just can't find any way to inject any common sense into my dealings with the owner.
Prime example, one year we split the cost (she gardens as much of the plot as she wants) of electric fence to keep the coons out. Bottom wire 3-4 inches off the ground and one 8" above that. It worked good, virtually no coon loss that year. Now that bottom wire needed to be kept free of vegetation. It was about 800' around the perimeter and I had a bum knee. I was walking it once a month or so with a sprayer and Roundup. Made a nice clean band about 6" wide under the fence. The next srping she came out with one of her grand pronouncements, "I don't want any really harsh insecticides like Roundup used here this year". Kinda hard to deal with that logic.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled thread! Here's a video dealing growing pumpkins over a bed of cover crop "straw". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gspMfZMbZK4