Giving the Earth a helping hand with quick growing summer Green Manure

Nature dislikes bare soil and will do anything to cover it up – with ‘weeds’ unfortunately, so why not give the earth a helping hand by sowing a quick growing summer Green Manure.

Green Manures are grown purely to benefit the soil rather than for food. Some green manures have bulky foliage that suppress weeds such as Mustard and some are thought to contain chemicals that inhibit weed seed germination like Buckwheat. The bulky foliage of some green manures add much needed humus to soil once it is dug in and others help to retain nutrients that may have leached out by heavy rainfall.

There is still time to sow some quick growing summer Green Manures on bare soil this summer and dig in before the autumn sown green manures are sown to overwinter. It’s best to keep the same crop rotation families, so peas & beans with legume Green Manures and Mustard with brassica’s but some like Buckwheat are not related to any family & so can be used anywhere in a crop rotation plan.