Winter cover crops

[hoodat]

Some of my beds are raised. I made some of the raised bed by putting using timbers for edging, laying cardboard on grass, covering it with duck compost and then adding topsoil. Hardly any weeds to speak of. Great lettuce crop too.

I'm always trying something. Right now I've got part of my garden in "lasgna gardening" and I'll try permacuture there, but without raised beds.

 

[jamespm_98]

I use clover, austrian winter peas and rye. Gives me good organic matter as well as nitrogen fixers. I acutally found some "deer plot mix" with this in it last year on sale due to the fact it was in a busted bag and it has worked great. It was much cheaper than buying the individual seeds of each type of cover crop. If you have chickens they love to graze on this combination. I run some chickens in my garden in a "chicken tractor" and they do a good job at killing the rye in early spring in time for planting. I also cut some of the rye in the spring and give it to my chickens and rabbits. My garden is "no till" and I am slowly developing raised beds due to the amount of organic material I am putting on it every year.

I have 4 gardens ranging from 8x10 to 40x50. I do have a tiller but I am trying to get away from tilling. That is now the chicken's job.