2020 Fall Cover Crop Sale

Why Cover Crops?

Buckwheat (front bed); Austrian winter pea (rear bed)

Cover crop mixes help to reduce erosion and compaction, and increase water permeation in the garden. They also hold minerals normally leached from your soil over the winter. Densely planted cover crops will suppress perennial and winter annual weed growth. The top growth and roots add organic matter to the garden soil. The cover crop’s root system also opens passageways that help improve air and water movement and supports microbial life. This microbial life works synergistically with the roots, bacteria, and fungi to improve soil health.
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All gardens benefit from the use of cover crops, or “green manures”, planted at the end of the season. Tilling, weeding, harvesting, and foot traffic tend to destroy soil structure. Planting cover crops is an easy way to revitalize your soil. Cover crops are planted in vacant space and can be worked into the soil. Traditionally, cover crops are either plowed under, crushed, cut, or pulled and used for mulch or compost. Cutting dense residue may help to avoid the potential negative reactions between rotting residues and new plantings. In addition, composting the cuttings may produce a more balanced soil amendment compared to chopping raw-crop residue directly into the soil. 

NOTE: Lucas SWCD charges no sales tax, but all online orders have a 3% + $0.30 fee to cover our web costs.
​Want to skip the fee?? Download/print an order form to mail in or drop off, with payment, at the office!

Photo Credit: Walnut Creek Seeds

Garden Late Cover Mix
A simple cover crop mix designed to plant with a minimal window prior to first frost and still provide the benefits of a cover crop. The combination may be planted up until mid October in Zone 5. It will loosen topsoil, protect your soil from winter erosion and nutrient loss, suppress weeds and provide mulch in the spring and food for soil micro and macro organisms which are crucial for healthy soil (Walnut Creek Seeds).

​Includes: Cereal Rye, Hairy Vetch and Crimson Clover. A one pound bag will seed 200-300 square feet.

Photo Credit: Walnut Creek Seeds

Austrian Winter Pea
A quick growing, excellent source of Nitrogen which provides very good erosion control and breaks down quickly. Winter peas are also very good at loosening topsoil and reducing weeds and disease. Succulent stems break down easily. Added bacterial inoculant will maximize nitrogen fixation. Field peas grow rapidly in the cool, moist weather, and can be sown in late fall to come up quickly in early spring. Spring flowers provide nectar for pollinators, and shoots are edible in salads. A one pound bag will seed 200-300 square ft (Walnut Creek Seeds).