Another year of poor blog updates.

This year, I managed to recieve a harvest of some note from my meager pot-garden on the back deck. We got enough tomatoes for a spaghetti dinnner (although in their small pots, I could never keep them well-watered enough), and enough Jalapenos, Cayenne and Habaneros to freeze and use throughout the winter.

Now that I’m in an actual house, and intend to remain put for a few years, I’m investing in a somewhat larger garden. I have tilled a 12′x12′ patch into the back yard, with an offset 4′x4′ patch which I intend to fill with strawberries (I expect that this experiment will not bear much fruit). The tiller I rented from Home Depot made absolutely short work of sod, and revealed some very nice soil beneath. I was honestly expecting clay.

To that end, I ordered a mix of hairy vetch and winter rye to use as cover crops. This is the recommended cover crop mixture for home gardeners, by the Kentucky Agricultural Extension. The Vetch is a legume, and will thus fix nitrogen into the soil. The rye provides something for the vetch to climb. Both are extremely winter hardy. Although I was supposed to have planted the vetch by late September, I was late, and didn’t get it in the ground until the second week of October. Despite some temperatures in the 30s since then, it has sprouted, and appears to be doing well.

If you look closely, you’ll see some of the Rye coming up, as well. I ordered my mixture from Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply, and it contained 15% rye and 85% vetch. Looking at the distribution of seeds, however, I’ll look into a more balanced mixture in the future. There just isn’t enough rye to provide any significant support to the vetch.

Also of note: if you haven’t planted legumes in your garden before, you’ll want to purchase innoculant with your vetch. This innoculant is made up of symbiotic bacteria which helps the Vetch fix nitrogen.

This cover crop will serve three purposes this season. For my garden, it will provide erosion cover for wet Kentucky winters. It will also fix nitrogen into the soil, which I probably don’t need, but which certainly won’t hurt. Most importantly, the vetch and rye will provide dry organic matter to the soil when it is tilled in come summer. This adds nutrients to the soil, as well as making it more friable. “Green Compost,” in more than one way.

Even though I got a late start on the cover crop, it looks like I lucked out. Lets hope that the rest of this years garden goes so well.