Fallow Ground Suggestions?
Forum Archives
tommyb
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Apr-19-2005 at 11:10am
Due to the watering problems, and general laziness, I'm letting two of my raised beds go fallow this year. Does anyone have a suggested cover crop I could plant in these beds which would require minimal watering but still prevent the "nature abhors bare ground" weed production?
I could just mulch the two beds---one is four by eight, the other is four and a half by nine---but I wouldn't mind having something, however outrageous (more might be fun), keep the weeds at bay.
I'm posting here, BTW, because I suspect that edible oriented gardeners probably have more insight into this challenge.
Thanks for any ideas,
Tom
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Apr-19-2005 at 12:52pm
Tom,
The first plant that I woulld think of at this time of year is Buckwheat. It will germinate above 50F soil. You could get 2-3 crops during the summer if you chop it and resow before it goes to seed. The second is Sorghum-sudangrass.
Both of these are summer annuals, both choke weeds, are easy to mow kill, and Alleopathic. (That is, they combat weeds by releasing natural, weed-suppressing chemicals into the soil.)
Buckwheat will grow up to three+ feet tall (shorter later in the summer) and attract lots of insects when in flower. S-s can go over 6 feet. (With multiple cuttings, S-s will produce 15-20,000 lbs. of biomass for your compost per acre.)
OK, your beds are not that big. Neither is very drought tolerant though. S-s is ranked good and buckwheat fair for drought tolerance. For 'very good' drought tolerance, you would need to use white clover or Medics mix.
With both, you could sow crimson clover in September (blended with some annual rye if you wish) for the overwinter green manure/legume.
1 1/2 + years of this buckwheat/clover cycle is what I am now using before my October garlic plantings. One has to be careful about not letting them to go to seed since both have 'hard' seed that will weather until their fall/spring germination timings. As the buckwheat blossoms slow, I cut/weedeat the plants and lightly till them in as I sow the new plants.
Johnny's has photos and info at:
"Johnny's Seeds Cover Crops"
Click on the grain and grasses links.
Johnny's Seeds Cover Crops"
Gary
tommyb
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Apr-19-2005 at 1:49pm
Thanks Gary, I thought about buckwheat too, having grown it when I had space for a real (as opposed to "beauty") garden. Gee, I guess my politically incorrectness is showing, don't tell the ladies, OK? The sudan grass sounds great, six feet and rising, would really dress up the raised bed! I could bury the aqua pore hose and go from there. I'm leery of the clovers---I got all the burr clover anyone could possibly not want.
I suppose the intelligent thing to do is to lay a layer of mulch on the beds and be done with it. Maybe a headstone with "RIP:Until the rains come"? I could do another ceanothus planting, mine are all happy, but these two beds are usually my "cutting" beds, and I want them available next year when hopefully the rains will return.
One idea that crossed my mind was to nasturtium the sunny bed and mulch the shaded one, but nasturtiums seem to like me and come back for a third year. Almost like weeds.
Maybe there's more ideas out there. Politically correct. of course.
Tom
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Apr-19-2005 at 4:11pm
The important line about buckwheat is--
"One has to be careful about not letting them to go to seed "!!!!! There, I put in the screamers.
Please note and act on that valuable information. No matter how cute the flower is ...
Carol
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Apr-19-2005 at 6:45pm
Carol,
Yes, be careful but buckwheat is the "EASIEST" weed to eliminate. You can pull, hoe, mow, till, chop, etc. to get rid of it.
Before I learned about the seed 'vitality' over winter, I was pulling sprouts out of my garlic almost until I harvested them in July!
Gary
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton