Which Cover Crop is Right for You

For a great how-to on planting and caring for cover crops go to: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-3-81-789-1-1-2,00.html

The only thing I don't agree with in this article is the tilling. However, until I can find a great way to use a perennial cover crop (which is High Risk) you will have to till it to make sure it dies. The annual cover crop (Medium Risk) you can kill by cutting it at the base of the plant to make sure it dies if the winter does not kill it.

High Risk - Cereal Rye: I will not have this available at the garden center because I don't think that many people are going to want to try it this year. However, if you do want to try it let me know and I can help you locate it or I can get some in for you. Cereal rye can be sown right up until frost. The rate I will have to find out if you are interested.

Medium Risk - Annual Ryegrass: We will have this available soon. I will post it here when I get it in. It will be $1.99 per pound. The rate is 6-8 pounds per 1,000 sqaure feet and should be sown in August or September. If your beds are not empty by September you can try a mulch instead or just sow around the plants. In my mom's garden I am going to have her sow around the existing plants and cut or pull the existing plants when the are finally finished.

Low Risk - Mulch: This is not a true "cover crop" but still provides many other benefits. It is always beneficial to keep your garden covered up. For the mulch you can use: grass clippings, chopped leaves and straw to name a few. When you clear out your beds after harvest just cover them with a mulch.

If you need further assistance please contact me!

kenny@deneweths.com

or call Deneweths Garden Center at (586) 247-5533 and ask for me, Kenny.

Cover Crops Explained

I was trying to come up with one simple solution for everyone and was stuggling with it, so I came up with 3 soutions. These 3 solutions will cover a broad range of gardeners. These solutions are ranked as "High Risk," "Medium Risk," and "Low Risk." Don't let the word "Risk" scare you. The only reason I use the word "Risk" is because of how hard or easy it can be to kill a cover crop. As it is with everything else the higher the risk the more the reward. A perennial cover crop will provide more benefits than an annual one. However, an annual cover crop still provides lots of benefits, so do not be afraid to start with a "Low Risk" and work your way up. A cover crop will be classified as a "High Risk" if it is a perennial and/or has a possibility to spread into your other landscapes (i.e. your grass if your garden is in or near your grass.) As I test and work with these cover crops they may be ranked as a higher or lower risk. If you are not sure which cover crop is right for you contact me or just start with the "Low Risk" crop for now.

Seminar evaluations are sent

I sent out the seminar evalutations via email. Please fill them out and be completely honest. Due to the fact that my Google account is set up with my personal account it will come from my personal email address and not kenny@deneweths.com

Let's start organic gardening

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for coming to my seminar last Wednesday, I had a great time! It is great to see more people coming to my seminars, this shows me that organic is really catching on.

Coming soon:

• Watch for my seminar evaluation in your email, I hope to have it sent out within a couple of days.
• Cover crop information