{"id":2825,"date":"2020-01-18T00:05:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T08:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/pal-question-88\/"},"modified":"2024-04-20T11:25:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T18:25:40","slug":"cover-crops-for-the-pacific-northwest","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/cover-crops-for-the-pacific-northwest\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover crops for the Pacific Northwest"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have two raised garden beds (8 x 12 feet) in my back yard. Recently I read somewhere that having a cover crop during our wet winter months would help decrease the leaching of nutrients and would also help bind nitrogen in the soil.<\/p>\n

Three suggested cover crops were crimson clover, Australian field peas (did they mean Austrian winter peas?), and vetch.<\/p>\n

What would you suggest? Are these good recommendations? Which
\nmight be the best?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sustainable Horticulture: Today and Tomorrow<\/i> (R. Poincelot, 2004, p.
\n372-377), says,<\/p>\n

“Cover crops, when managed as green manures, can supply considerable nitrogen
\nfor [vegetable] crops.”<\/p>\n

Legumes, like the pea and vetch you mentioned are
\ngood choices for increasing the nitrogen level in soils. (Hairy vetch, Vicia
\nvillosa, and Austrian winter pea, Pisum arvense). Crimson clover (Trifolium
\nincarnatum) is almost as efficient at supplying nitrogen to the soil.<\/p>\n

Hairy Vetch supplies 33-145 lb of nitrogen per acre\/year to soil, Austrian
\nwinter pea supplies 53-100 lb\/acre\/year, and Crimson clover supplies 19-114
\nlb\/acre\/year.<\/p>\n

Another species you might consider as a cover crop is Fava bean (Vicia
\nfaba), which supplies 25-105 lb\/acre\/year.<\/p>\n

Additional information about growing cover crops in the Pacific Northwest
\ncan be found on this information sheet from the Washington State University extension<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Territorial Seed Company<\/a>, in Oregon, sells small quantities of cover
\ncrop seed by mail order, including Hairy vetch, Crimson Clover, and Fava
\nBean.<\/p>\n

Cover crops<\/a>, <\/span>Legumes<\/a>, <\/span>Pisum<\/a>, <\/span>Sustainable horticulture<\/a>, <\/span>Trifolium<\/a>, <\/span>Vicia<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have two raised garden beds (8 x 12 feet) in my back yard. Recently I read somewhere that having a cover crop during our wet winter months would help decrease the leaching of nutrients and would also help bind nitrogen in the soil. Three suggested cover crops were crimson clover, Australian field peas (did they mean Austrian winter peas?), and vetch. What would you suggest? Are these good recommendations? Which might be the best? Sustainable Horticulture: Today and Tomorrow…<\/p>\n

Continue reading Cover crops for the Pacific Northwest<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[727,726,725,312,724,723],"class_list":["post-2825","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-cover-crops","keyword-legumes","keyword-pisum","keyword-sustainable-horticulture","keyword-trifolium","keyword-vicia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/2825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=2825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}