Teaching Garden Update: Winter Cover Crops Chopped, Summer Cover Crops Seeded In

​This past Saturday we said goodbye to our winter cover crop. It was beautiful to see the blooms of the hairy vetch and peas attract beneficial insects like ladybugs and then the mustards and radishes trapped pests like aphids and provided food for the ladybugs as they mated. 

We planted the cover crop mix of winter rye, peas, mustards and daikon radishes in a compacted and depleted area that was once a path. 
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Before everything went fully to seed, we cut the stems at the base and then, trench composted the "green manure."  Never, uproot any of you crops because you don't want to upset the soil ecosystem or pull up the organic matter and nitrogen nodules that are in the roots of the plants. 

To keep the soil protected as the weather warms, we planted a summer cover crop blend of buckwheat, sorghum and millet. See our previous post to get cover crop ideas for your garden.

To learn about the benefits of cover crops, watch this episode from he fall video series.

GROW WITH US
Austin Organic Gardeners member volunteer day at Zilker Botanical Gardens teaching gardens is on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m. Volunteering in the teaching garden is a safe way to social distance, get outdoors, and also learn how to organic garden. We are also looking for seed and plant donations so let us know if would like to contribute to the garden this way. Please email us and let us know if you can grow with us.

VOLUNTEER ON SATURDAYS