Grow your own fertility
Green manures are plants that are grown to improve the soil in organic gardens. They can suppress weeds, improve the soil structure, prevent evaporation and soil erosion and even make the soil more fertile than it was before - you just need to choose the right green manure for your situation.
How to choose a green manure
There are many different plants that can be used as green manures. When you decide to grow one, you need to choose the right green manure for your garden.
In the spring time choosing a green manure depends on how long you want it to be in the ground for, why you're sowing it and your crop rotation. Follow the link to find out more.
If you want to sow a green manure in the fall, then choosing is easy - there aren't many that will grow overwinter! Read my article on green manures for autumn, or listen to episode 27 of The Alternative Kitchen Garden show.
In the spring time choosing a green manure depends on how long you want it to be in the ground for, why you're sowing it and your crop rotation. Follow the link to find out more.
If you want to sow a green manure in the fall, then choosing is easy - there aren't many that will grow overwinter! Read my article on green manures for autumn, or listen to episode 27 of The Alternative Kitchen Garden show.
How to use green manures in your garden
Once you've chosen your green manure, it's time to grow them. It's an easy, low maintenance process.
Check out how to grow green manures.
Check out how to grow green manures.
Trefoil
Trefoil is unusual as a green manure because it is used while other crops are still in place.Trefoil is very low growing, and adds nitrogen to the soil, so it makes a great living mulch. Sow it under hungry plants like fruit bushes in spring.
It also helps to confuse the cabbage white butterfly, so sow it underneath brassicas.
Hungarian grazing rye
Secale cereale
Hungarian grazing rye is an excellent green manure to sow if you have heavy soil that needs breaking up. Grazing rye has strong, deep roots that can relieve soil compaction and improve soil structure.
Hungarian grazing rye can be sown from early spring right through until late autumn, and is one of the few green manures that will overwinter and protect the soil from winter weather.
It's not bad at preventing weeds either! The only downsides with Hungarian grazing rye is that is can be tough to dig in, and for a few weeks after being dug in it will prevent seed germination - so don't sow seeds there for a few weeks.
Hungarian grazing rye can be sown from early spring right through until late autumn, and is one of the few green manures that will overwinter and protect the soil from winter weather.
It's not bad at preventing weeds either! The only downsides with Hungarian grazing rye is that is can be tough to dig in, and for a few weeks after being dug in it will prevent seed germination - so don't sow seeds there for a few weeks.
Comfrey
The organic gardener's best friend
Comfrey is a perennial plant, and so doesn't fit the profile of a conventional green manure. However, it is grown specifically to provide fertility for the organic garden.Comfrey leaves can be used to line the planting holes for potatoes and get your crop off to a good start. Comfrey can be made into a rich liquid feed that your fruiting vegetables will love. And if that's not enough, bees love it's flowers.
Learn more about comfrey in episode 7 of The Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast.
Buckwheat
Fagopyrum esculentum
Buckwheat can be sown from late spring until late summer, and is left in place for 1-3 months. It doesn't fix nitrogen in the soil, but it thrives on poor soils which are badly in need of improvement.
To improve the soil, Buckwheat should be dug in before it flowers. However, leaving a small area to flower can also be beneficial because the flowers will provide a food source for hoverflies and other beneficial insects.
To improve the soil, Buckwheat should be dug in before it flowers. However, leaving a small area to flower can also be beneficial because the flowers will provide a food source for hoverflies and other beneficial insects.
Organic gardening books from Amazon
Green manure's guestbook
Like this lens? Want to share your feedback, or just give a thumbs up? Be the first to submit a blurb!
