Rest and Refresh

It’s winter, time for the garden (and the gardeners) to rest and refresh. The pandemic has been going on for what seems like forever now and we’re all weary of the precautions and just plain tired. All the more reason to derive pleasure from the garden.

Cover Crops

This year, as the garden season wound down, we made a major effort to plant cover crops.

According to Penn State Extension Service, “Cover crops are grains, grasses, or legumes that will grow during fall and winter and that you can plow, spade, or till under in the spring. During their growth, cover crops help reduce soil compaction and prevent erosion.”

Not only do cover crops improve the soil’s organic matter, they feed bacteria, fungi, and earthworms and allow your soil to better withstand drought, which in Colorado, is an constant concern.

Carbon sequestration

Cover crops also sequester carbon underground and by so doing, we feel we’ve made a helpful contribution to the environment in a small but important way.

We purchased buckwheat, field peas and oat seeds from our local nursery, then broadcast the seeds over open areas in our garden. The results were amazing. Green throughout the fall, it’s great watching them hold on to the soil – just like we’re holding on during the pandemic.