Back in October I sowed a few handfuls of Winter Tares as a green manure. Despite the late sowing, the plants sprouted well and have been growing away all winter. My jury was out on whether this would work as a weed suppressant as well as a soil conditioner – but it seems to have faired well on both counts. There were only a few clumps of grass in amongst the plants so I think I try this again this year. Dug it all in and then sat back with a nice cuppa. This is what Sundays should be about.
2 comments:
I'm hoping to try some green manures next autumn. Was it a pain to dig in though? And will you be able to plant straight into the bed where it's been? Your advice please!
The plants were really easy to dig over but I think they will need one more dig to make sure they do not re-grow. Apparently, green manures usually take around two weeks to rot down but it can take up to a month or more for the soil to settle.
I sowed tares this time which is meant to be good before brassicas as the plant releases extra nitrogen into the soil. I tend to start off my crops in modules rather than sowing directly into the soil – we have such a slug population on the allotment that this seems to give plants the best chance. They do say however that Hungarian grazing rye, when sown as a green manure, tends to inhibit germination of small seeds for a few weeks after digging in.
Happy gardening!
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