Prepare soil for spring with a cover crop now. Oats, daikon radish and legumes like vetch, fava or bell beans, as well as annual clovers, peas and wildflowers, will help replenish your soil.

Oats are a wonderful choice for gardeners looking for a cover crop that's gentle on the soil. Native to Europe and western Asia, oats are incredibly versatile and can grow in a range of soil types.

Cover crops suited to cooler soil temperatures, like oats and field peas, can also act as placeholders in early spring, suppressing weeds until the planting of warm-weather vegetables in late May ...

The cover crops they tested included spring oats, red clover, annual ryegrass and radishes, among others. Then the researchers tracked how well the cover crops grew, how soil properties changed ...

Oats, of course, aren’t the only cover crop you can use in the vegetable garden. Other grains that are recommended include barley, annual ryegrass and winter rye. All three work much as the oats do.

Growing spring oats as a cover crop before vining peas is helping Lincolnshire farm manager Peter Cartwright improve yields by more than 1t/ha and build organic matter back into the soil.

In the spring, the crops will be cut, chopped and then worked into the top 6 inches of soil to compost. After composting in place, leave the beds alone for about three weeks to give the plant ...

Enjoy watching your cover crop grow during winter before you incorporate them in spring. Cover crops include grains like winter oats, cereal rye and a wide range of broadleaf plants.

The cover crops you put in last autumn have done their job. ... barley and oats — as these crops develop deep root systems over the winter, allowing them to use spring moisture and heat quickly.

Due to several issues, there will be open fields this winter that could be prime candidates for a spring forage crop. Spring-planted oats can provide many possibilities for farmers. Typically in ...

When the Southern Cover Crops Council held its annual conference recently in Baton Rouge, I was fortunate to sit in on panel discussions with farmers and specialty crops (vegetables, fruits, ...