Cover Cropping
Cover crops are used to support market crops, as well as to benefit the surrounding ecosystem. We plant them on a rotation with market crops to prepare and replenish the soil. They provide natural fertilization, soil stabilization, water retention, weed suppression, pest control, tillage, and wind protection. The Farm Hub is experimenting with different blends of rotational cover crops as an ecological alternative to chemical inputs.
Rolled and crimped vetch
Vetch cover crop
Planting soybeans into rolled and crimped vetch
Tillage radish is planted as a cover crop, that is, it is not harvested. Its tops are cut and flattened and left on top of the soil, and its large root is left to biodegrade, which aerates and loosens up the soil for future plantings.
Crimson clover, used as a cover crop
Buckwheat
Sunflowers, part of a cover crop blend.
