It’s easy being GREEN!
With summer crops winding up, now is all about preparing your garden to produce beautiful autumn and winter bounty.
Green manure crops add nutrients and improve soil when grown and then dug back into the ground. Lablab, cow pea, mung bean, soybean and millet are all good choices for this time of year, particularly the legumes, which add nitrogen to the soil and give a lovely boost to the next crop planted.
If you are preparing a new garden area, a green manure crop is a great strategy – it can suppress weeds, improve drainage, reduce compaction, stabilise the area to limit erosion, and improve the soil before you put in permanent plantings.
How to Use Green Manure Crops for Best Results
For maximum benefit, harvest as your crop starts to flower – once the crop has fully flowered (and then set seed), the nitrogen content decreases. You can either dig the crop in (chop it a bit first) or cut it and use it as mulch.
Allow four to six weeks after you dig the crop in before planting new seeds. If you need to plant sooner, use your green manure crop as a surface mulch.
HOT TIP – You can buy seed for green manure crops cheaply from bulk food stores.
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