Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) blooming. What are cover crops and how do they build soil? Follow these planting methods and reliable cover crop options to solar-charge your soil and improve soil ...

Farmers and gardeners find buckwheat to be a good "green manure." (Alex Stone) Need a summer cover crop next year to add nutrients to your garden's soil? Try planting buckwheat. "This crop provides ...

Maybe after you finish your vegetable harvest, you mentally say, “I’m done this year,” and wait to start again next year. But a cover crop could benefit you in several ways. By researching now, you ...

Sow the four best summer cover crops for fast-growing, weed-suppressing soil builders in any patch possible, even during your prime gardening season. No gardening practice yields as many benefits as ...

No matter the type of farm, there’s an advantage to planting soil-feeding cover crops ahead of fall and winter. The assistance provided depends on the crops you plant. But there is definitely one out ...

Cover crops play an important role in protecting the soil and water when cash crops like corn or soybean are not actively growing. The National Conservation Service promoted the use of cover crops ...

‘Prosperity,’ customer pressure help stir cover crop interest The ‘yo-yo’ principle of managing cover crops Is USDA overpromoting cover crops? This is the first part of a four-part series examining ...

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, nuts and ...

FARIBAULT, Minn. — Which cover crops provide the most benefit to a farm’s bottom line? That’s what a Minnesota-based research project is trying to figure out. “The objective of our research isn't to ...

Cover crops are a useful (and inexpensive!) way for vegetable gardeners to manage weeds, improve the soil, and help control erosion. Not intended for harvest, cover crops are planted either before or ...