My family has a 1500 acre potato farm in northern Maine. They plant 500 acres of potatoes on year one. On year two they plant 1000 acres of barley and clover together. By August they harvest the barley and leave the clover to grow through year 3. They don’t have a irrigation system, only rain. The crop rotation and cover crop make the soil so healthy that the potatoes grow even on years of drought.
I've been doing this to keep from disturbing the roots I need to leave in the soil to raise organic matter, then cover with cardboard for a few weeks then plant another round of cover crop and repeat.
I am happy you explained this. I called my extension agent yesterday and was told I don’t need to cover crop(only for farmers- lol!). This year 2025 I am doing the 4x8 garden of flowers you taught last year and I need to practice covering the ground especially when. Don’t have anything growing due to succession planting. Where I am having any issue is which seeds to can be using in zone 8B garden Texas (very long growing season). I will continue to research. Thanks for all you do for us!
HA! i love that people think soil health only applies to farms, how silly! For that plan, I would recommend starting a cover crop of oats and peas 8 weeks before last frost, and then tarp it at last frost and plant the flower seeds a week later!
Do you ever use a living mulch? You did mention using nasturtium for an interplanting pest lure. I use buckwheat around my sunflowers and they seem to grow a lot better 🤷♀️
Finally got a chance to watch this video - so glad I did! You did an excellent job of making something that has been intimidating me into something much more approachable. We have a few areas in our rather large yard that are essentially weed beds now, but I have designs on making them productive for next year. This helps immensely - looking forward to your book!
Thank you for this video! I would love to see a tour of your place. My grandma lives on a farm in MN around Albert Lea and Owatonna, and it’s so sad to see the endless sea of monoculture fields, most of which are practicing traditional ag.
My boyfriend has a "factory farm" in Indiana (corn and beans) that he rents out and it gets cover cropped! His farmer sows mustard seeds that make the field a beautiful yellow color!
there is a slight difference. industrial farms (monoculture farms) are only cover cropping to prevent weeds/erosion and not to maintain/improve soil quality. monoculture farms usually do not really care about soil quality as much as homesteads/sustainable farms as industrial farming uses tilling, pesticides and a lot of water to make up for the low quality soil. this is why after some years, the soil on monoculture farms are basically dead on the top. in sustainable farming/homesteading soil quality is one of the most important aspects, adding nutrients back to the soil, not bothering the soil too much, etc. that way sustainable farming will not leave dead soil after a season and the need for watering/pesticides is lower.
My local seed company recommended cereal rye two years ago. They said to terminate when it blooms. I ended up with seed heads a little late to terminate but I went ahead and wacked it all down. This year I terminated earlier and only got about 1/3 of the area terminated. I will not do cereal rye again. I am actually digging out the rye. I feel my soils in SW Colorado are very similar to yours in Lakewood. As always you have excellent information. I am looking forward to your book.
New at selling cut flowers here, from central Alberta. Can you please give me tips on harvesting lupines and perennial delphiniums. They just don’t stay straight up! What’s the secret?
This is so informative and well thought through! I would live to see a video on terminating weeds. We have a pasture we want to convert into garden space, but it is completely overrun with weeds. How would you recommend starting to rehabilitate land like that?
Hopefully Bri will respond but if not--I would imagine tarping it to kill the weeds would be ideal. However, I was able to create my garden area from a semi-weedy pasture without tarps. I've had decent luck with cutting the grass super low and then covering it thickly with mostly leaves in the future planting areas and wood chips in the future pathways. Anytime grass or weeds pop through that I pile on more leaves or woodchips. I usually leave it covered for spring and summer and plant a cover crop in the fall. I can sometimes plant a cash crop the following year, or I may do another year of cover crops. This has worked pretty well for me, but I think it depends on what weeds you're dealing with and how thick they are. I always have some grass and weeds pop up here and there over the next couple years, but usually by year three they're pretty much gone. But I've been lucky and haven't had to deal with anything really tough to get rid of like bindweed, Bermuda grass, etc.
Cannot wait for your book! Would you have any advice for a home gardener for cover cropping? I do not have specific spring/warm season beds... I have beds around my home that have a mixture of plants. There are holes in the beds at certain times, can cover cropping be done on a small scale, in between plants? Thank you for all you do! So refreshing to give back to the soil naturally.
I have been binge watching all of your videos! Love every single one! I am wondering if you would consider doing a video about your approach to conditioning flowers? I would appreciate your take on that topic. Thanks!
Have a desperate question about blocking weeds by my cover crops (in walking paths). If cardboard isn’t a good option, what else can be used? I am in a southern state and these weeds grow like trees. I am losing control of my garden already. Please help.
At the end of the season is it ok to cut up the plants in your row and then leave them on top of the bed? Does it do the same thing as terminating a cover crop? Was thinking of doing it in my garden beds.
Are there any studies on what happens if you were to cut a cover crop prior to seed setting and kept that up until it dies over winter? Would a nitrogen fixer just keep creating more root nodules?
Thanks indeed for terminating CoverCrops! Do you have a good book that explains how to terminate cover crops? I would love to purchase it. Thanks again. jtsdrd
Moved into a new neighborhood where the top soil was removed and hard pan clay is everywhere. I rototilled 2 large beds with added top soil for native forbs and grasses but they are struggling. Can I plant a pea and oat cover crop in the Fall in the spaces between my native forbs and prairie grass to improve soil nutrients and drainage?
Your method of “scooch aside and plant” makes sense to me for plants and big seeds like squash, but how do you handle cover crop residue with tiny seeds like carrots or spinach?
Hi could you do a video on weed supression with plants? I dont want to use plastic cover like farmers at my place use for strawberries but i also dont want to spend time weeding everyday. Also i saw some people use hot boiling water to kill weeds Whats your take on that? I would only use it for my yard between the cement blocks and such
Mulch! Either leaving your cover crop in place or putting down mulch between plants keeps the weeds down. Bri uses leaves she collects in the fall. We did the same, raking leaves for our older neighbours. We use arborist wood chips in our flower garden (not in the veg garden).
We had our first rain last night since October. It barely wet the ground. Would it be possible to plant a cover crop now and still be able to plant and harvest something else before the rains stop? It seems too short a time to me.
Could I use peas and oats on a small scale zone 5 north eastern Illinois a 5 / 10 veg bed? What do you think of comfrey in the beds? I find this permaculture fascinating let the earth do its own think❤ Thanks so much for all your hard work to share this truth.❤
Your local extension will have recommendations for the best cover crops to use as a home gardener in your state. Since you are close to my state, you can also use the recommendations from Purdue University www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/HO/HO-324-W.pdf
Comfrey should be planted in another spot, then chop the comfrey tops off and add to your bed as biomass. This is one of the biodynamic techniques adding biomass in the form of comfrey tops , borage, I've used whole calendula plants like this if I have thousands of them where I don't need them. Great soil building and high silica content plants for soil making underneath and with soil and compost.
I have a new area i would like to cover crop. I threw a bunch of garden debris, bedding, and old horse manure on the ground. Should I till that all in then plant the cover crop or move the stuff off the soil and plant it into the soil even tho there is a few inches of organic matter. I got red ripper cowpeas and sun hemp. Im in the ca desert so its over 100 here pretty regularly.
My family has a 1500 acre potato farm in northern Maine. They plant 500 acres of potatoes on year one. On year two they plant 1000 acres of barley and clover together. By August they harvest the barley and leave the clover to grow through year 3. They don’t have a irrigation system, only rain. The crop rotation and cover crop make the soil so healthy that the potatoes grow even on years of drought.
I’m hoping that the book comes out before December 25th. I now know what I’m asking my wife for Christmas
Merry Christmas
Loving the contrast with crimping with angle iron but then doing it in sandals. Terminated with sandals.
I’ve been hoping for a book!!!!
Yayyy!! It would mean the world to me to have the support of my viewers ❤️❤️❤️
So great! ❤❤
Wow! Lots of info here. This is something that needs to be watched multiple times and with pen and paper nearby for notes.
This is my 3rd time watching this
@@sylviasuzanszabo Got you beat. Round 4!
I've been doing this to keep from disturbing the roots I need to leave in the soil to raise organic matter, then cover with cardboard for a few weeks then plant another round of cover crop and repeat.
I am happy you explained this. I called my extension agent yesterday and was told I don’t need to cover crop(only for farmers- lol!). This year 2025 I am doing the 4x8 garden of flowers you taught last year and I need to practice covering the ground especially when. Don’t have anything growing due to succession planting. Where I am having any issue is which seeds to can be using in zone 8B garden Texas (very long growing season). I will continue to research. Thanks for all you do for us!
HA! i love that people think soil health only applies to farms, how silly! For that plan, I would recommend starting a cover crop of oats and peas 8 weeks before last frost, and then tarp it at last frost and plant the flower seeds a week later!
Do you ever use a living mulch? You did mention using nasturtium for an interplanting pest lure. I use buckwheat around my sunflowers and they seem to grow a lot better 🤷♀️
Yes, you can watch our dahlia interplanting video to see how we use living mulches ✅☺️
Thanks for the tip on buckwheat/sunflowers. Where do you get your buckwheat seeds and is there a specific variety you use?
Finally got a chance to watch this video - so glad I did! You did an excellent job of making something that has been intimidating me into something much more approachable. We have a few areas in our rather large yard that are essentially weed beds now, but I have designs on making them productive for next year. This helps immensely - looking forward to your book!
Thank you for this video! I would love to see a tour of your place. My grandma lives on a farm in MN around Albert Lea and Owatonna, and it’s so sad to see the endless sea of monoculture fields, most of which are practicing traditional ag.
My boyfriend has a "factory farm" in Indiana (corn and beans) that he rents out and it gets cover cropped! His farmer sows mustard seeds that make the field a beautiful yellow color!
there is a slight difference. industrial farms (monoculture farms) are only cover cropping to prevent weeds/erosion and not to maintain/improve soil quality. monoculture farms usually do not really care about soil quality as much as homesteads/sustainable farms as industrial farming uses tilling, pesticides and a lot of water to make up for the low quality soil. this is why after some years, the soil on monoculture farms are basically dead on the top. in sustainable farming/homesteading soil quality is one of the most important aspects, adding nutrients back to the soil, not bothering the soil too much, etc. that way sustainable farming will not leave dead soil after a season and the need for watering/pesticides is lower.
Please please make sure, that your books is available in Europe (or especially Germany!) I really appreciate your farming style and presentation
So great!
Thank you!
I’m learning so much from you!
My local seed company recommended cereal rye two years ago. They said to terminate when it blooms. I ended up with seed heads a little late to terminate but I went ahead and wacked it all down. This year I terminated earlier and only got about 1/3 of the area terminated. I will not do cereal rye again. I am actually digging out the rye. I feel my soils in SW Colorado are very similar to yours in Lakewood. As always you have excellent information. I am looking forward to your book.
Awww man this happened to us too with annual Rye. Still dealing with it 3 years later, thankfully just in a 5’x10’ area
New at selling cut flowers here, from central Alberta. Can you please give me tips on harvesting lupines and perennial delphiniums. They just don’t stay straight up! What’s the secret?
This is so informative and well thought through! I would live to see a video on terminating weeds. We have a pasture we want to convert into garden space, but it is completely overrun with weeds. How would you recommend starting to rehabilitate land like that?
Hopefully Bri will respond but if not--I would imagine tarping it to kill the weeds would be ideal. However, I was able to create my garden area from a semi-weedy pasture without tarps. I've had decent luck with cutting the grass super low and then covering it thickly with mostly leaves in the future planting areas and wood chips in the future pathways. Anytime grass or weeds pop through that I pile on more leaves or woodchips. I usually leave it covered for spring and summer and plant a cover crop in the fall. I can sometimes plant a cash crop the following year, or I may do another year of cover crops. This has worked pretty well for me, but I think it depends on what weeds you're dealing with and how thick they are. I always have some grass and weeds pop up here and there over the next couple years, but usually by year three they're pretty much gone. But I've been lucky and haven't had to deal with anything really tough to get rid of like bindweed, Bermuda grass, etc.
I bet Bri would recommend your method. She didn't like plastic, so I'm guessing she wouldn't recommend tarping.@@WesternMONo-TillGardening
Cannot wait for your book! Would you have any advice for a home gardener for cover cropping? I do not have specific spring/warm season beds... I have beds around my home that have a mixture of plants. There are holes in the beds at certain times, can cover cropping be done on a small scale, in between plants? Thank you for all you do! So refreshing to give back to the soil naturally.
I have been binge watching all of your videos! Love every single one! I am wondering if you would consider doing a video about your approach to conditioning flowers? I would appreciate your take on that topic. Thanks!
Thank you for all the info. I guess I won't be harvesting milky oats from a cover crop 😆. I look forward to the book
Loved the information, bit and pieces of practical information I can diplopy in my garden to improve my results.
Does the moisture content on the soil or cover crop need to be accounted for when covering to kill? Thinking of wanting to prevent mold growth.
Great info, thankyou!
Have a desperate question about blocking weeds by my cover crops (in walking paths). If cardboard isn’t a good option, what else can be used? I am in a southern state and these weeds grow like trees. I am losing control of my garden already. Please help.
Bri covers paths with mulch. We use arborist wood chips on pathways, nice and thick. She discusses it in other videos.
At the end of the season is it ok to cut up the plants in your row and then leave them on top of the bed? Does it do the same thing as terminating a cover crop? Was thinking of doing it in my garden beds.
Are there any studies on what happens if you were to cut a cover crop prior to seed setting and kept that up until it dies over winter? Would a nitrogen fixer just keep creating more root nodules?
Thanks indeed for terminating CoverCrops! Do you have a good book that explains how to terminate cover crops? I would love to purchase it. Thanks again. jtsdrd
Moved into a new neighborhood where the top soil was removed and hard pan clay is everywhere. I rototilled 2 large beds with added top soil for native forbs and grasses but they are struggling. Can I plant a pea and oat cover crop in the Fall in the spaces between my native forbs and prairie grass to improve soil nutrients and drainage?
Your method of “scooch aside and plant” makes sense to me for plants and big seeds like squash, but how do you handle cover crop residue with tiny seeds like carrots or spinach?
Same way! I just use a tool like a hoe to clear a path through the crop and then sow into a furrow. :)
Hi could you do a video on weed supression with plants? I dont want to use plastic cover like farmers at my place use for strawberries but i also dont want to spend time weeding everyday.
Also i saw some people use hot boiling water to kill weeds
Whats your take on that? I would only use it for my yard between the cement blocks and such
Mulch! Either leaving your cover crop in place or putting down mulch between plants keeps the weeds down. Bri uses leaves she collects in the fall. We did the same, raking leaves for our older neighbours. We use arborist wood chips in our flower garden (not in the veg garden).
We had our first rain last night since October. It barely wet the ground. Would it be possible to plant a cover crop now and still be able to plant and harvest something else before the rains stop? It seems too short a time to me.
Could I use peas and oats on a small scale zone 5 north eastern Illinois a 5 / 10 veg bed? What do you think of comfrey in the beds? I find this permaculture fascinating let the earth do its own think❤ Thanks so much for all your hard work to share this truth.❤
Your local extension will have recommendations for the best cover crops to use as a home gardener in your state. Since you are close to my state, you can also use the recommendations from Purdue University www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/HO/HO-324-W.pdf
Comfrey should be planted in another spot, then chop the comfrey tops off and add to your bed as biomass.
This is one of the biodynamic techniques adding biomass in the form of comfrey tops ,
borage, I've used whole calendula plants like this if I have thousands of them where I don't need them.
Great soil building and high silica content plants for soil making underneath and with soil and compost.
I have a new area i would like to cover crop. I threw a bunch of garden debris, bedding, and old horse manure on the ground. Should I till that all in then plant the cover crop or move the stuff off the soil and plant it into the soil even tho there is a few inches of organic matter. I got red ripper cowpeas and sun hemp. Im in the ca desert so its over 100 here pretty regularly.
I think you'd plant into the newly layered on organic matter without tilling it in, from what I've seen on this channel.
flail mower and then trap, done. Never till organic material into the soil.
💚👍
Do not do that with that bad vibe.