I'm taking the same approach to this as I take to trying new tomato varieties - try whatever I think might work for me, keep that which is good, toss that which is not.
Now, come to think of it, I've been tossing quite a few heirlooms the last few years thinking they were way too low in production to warrant a future garden slot, I may have mis-judged them. The poor babies may have just been sick and I was a bad mom.
I'm not sure if cover crops and the other stuff will help, but if I don't give them a trial it will niggle at me. I know nothing is a magic bullet, and frankly, some may be too much of a pain in the hinney (like turning under the cover crops), but I won't know what will help my garden unless I try. My goal is to keep the population down so I can get food out of at least part of my garden year round, and with the heirloom toms in containers I will have a lot more wiggle room and can afford leave a few beds fallow each season. Oh that will be hard...purposely leaving beds empty of vegetables!
It's funny that with all the things I'm looking at having to do here the thing that irks me the most is that I have to wash my tools and hands between beds to delay the infection moving as long as I can. At least they are raised beds so I don't have to wash my feet. LOL
A few days ago I was really in despair - I always knew this nasty bugaboo was hiding out there in the big bad world, but had always managed to avoid it (dumb luck probably) in my own yard. I thought it was the kiss of death for my vegetable beds. It has been really helpful to hear the voices of experience and know that it's not the end of my vegetable garden as I know it.
