After four years, one of our fields of herbal ley has been shallow ploughed, harrowed, rolled and drilled with a diverse cover crop of buckwheat, mustard, persian clover and crimson clover. Short term cover crops are essentially used as an alternative to leaving soil bare, instead building soil health by feeding microbes - a mixed diet is as good for them as it is for us!
Luckily, it rained just after we sowed the cover crop and within days there were green shoots popping up. We’d expect the cover crop to reach a height of 15-30cm before we destroy it in September. It won’t be in the ground for long but will be replaced with our next crop of heritage wheat. The diverse crop rotation at FarmED is all about producing healthy soil and healthy food.