STRIKING GOLD with GREEN MANURE

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Every year I also plant my previously weediest bed with sunflowers - the lazy gardener's way to control wild growth.

How to Plant

Planting your cover crop is easy you don't have to worry about tilling the soil first. Just clear the bed of weeds and spent vegetables, then rake the soil free of clumps. You'll need an average of one and a half cups of seed to sow a 100-square-foot area.

Use a broadcaster or throw your seeds on by hand, then work in with a rake or cover with additional soil. A good rule of thumb is to cover the seed to a depth three times its diameter. Water thoroughly and be sure to keep watering in summer or during dry weather.

It's important to remember to use an inoculant on any legume seed before you plant. These commercially available powdered substances contain live rhizobia bacteria. While different legume crops are naturally host to different types of rhizobia bacteria, inoculants ensure that sufficient populations of the right rhizobia are present at the right time (the inoculant's packaging should tell you which crop it's intended for). Rhizobia bacteria colonize the roots of legumes and feed from their carbohydrates. In return, the bacteria take gaseous nitrogen from the air and change it to a form that plants (both legumes and their neighbors) can use. This symbiotic process, commonly known as nitrogen-fixation, is one you'll want to encourage to ensure that your legumes absorb the maximum amount of nitrogen.

AT A GLANCE : BEST CROPS FOR SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Tolerates Acidic Soil: bell beans, most clovers, most vetches, buckwheat
Tolerates Alkaline Soil: alfalfa, barley, ryegrass, Sudan grass
Tolerates Drought Conditions. alfalfa, hairy vetch, barley, cereal rye, ryegrass, Sudan grass
Tolerates Wet Conditions. bell beans, subterranean clover, Austrian peas, mustard, oats, ryegrass
Tolerates Shade: most clovers, hairy vetch, cereal rye, ryegrass
Toleratesor Enjoys Heat cowpeas, soybeans, buckwheat, Sudan grass
Breaks Up Compacted Soil/Deep Roots: alfalfa, bell beans, most clovers, barley, buckwheat, cereal rye, kale, mustard, ryegrass
Suppresses Weeds: most clovers, Austrian peas, field peas, soybeans, vetches, barley, buckwheat, cereal rye, oats, ryegrass, Sudan grass

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