| Organic Ade Soil Without Toil
Cover Crops | 
Witch Hazel
the "easy organic"
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Adding a handful of high nitrogen fertilizer will hasten the decomposition of the crop (unless you go for the clover crops, which fix nitrogen in their roots, so no extra is needed). You'll have to wait about 3 weeks before planting your garden after tilling in. Other amendments you can add at the time of digging in that give more lasting soil improvement are: agricultural gypsum, ground limestone, sharp sand. Types of cover crops for different conditions | | Loosens compacted or heavy soils | alfalfa, bell beans, most clovers, barley, buckwheat, cereal rye, kale, mustard, ryegrass, tyfon, daikon radish | | Tolerates drought | alfalfa, hairy vetch, barley, cereal rye, ryegrass, Sudan grass (sorghum) | | Attracts beneficial insects | Alfalfa attracts a host of parasitic wasps, lady beetles, damsel bugs, big-eyed bugs and assassin bugs. White clover attracts tachinid flies, ground beetles and parasitic wasps that prey on aphids, scales, caterpillars and whiteflies. Most grains attract lady beetles. Clovers and vetches attract minute pirate bugs. Buckwheat attracts predatory and parasitic wasps, syrphid flies (also called hover flies) and bumblebees. | | Suppresses weeds | most clovers, Austrian peas, field peas, soybeans, vetches, barley, buckwheat; cereal rye, oats, ryegrass, Sudan grass | | Tolerates Wet Conditions | bell beans, subterranean clover, Austrian peas, mustard, oats, ryegrass | | Tolerates Shade | most clovers, hairy vetch, cereal rye, ryegrass | | Tolerates Heat | cowpeas, soybeans, buckwheat, Sudan grass | | Tolerates Acidic Soil | bell beans, most clovers, most vetches, buckwheat | | Tolerates Alkaline Soil | alfalfa, barley, ryegrass, Sudan grass | | Repel Nematodes, Add beneficial Fungi | Sudan Grass (sorghum) repels nematodes as it provides humus and feeds the beneficial fungi in the soil with its natural sugars |
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