Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post

oakley · September 16, 2016

A bit of a different perspective on the fall hearty green cover crop....being in the North.
I broadcasted a mixed bag of greens, kales and chards and beet and broccoli and arugula (from my micro mixes i grow all winter indoors)...in my salad beds that are 3.5x
10 ft, maybe 12. Thick like grass seed. And about three weeks ago when the temps were
85-90, night-time 55-60. Shade frames cover and lots of water.

I'll plant some more this weekend when i pull the basil bed and the cilantro bed that i let bolt for seed. The bean bed is done so it might get some of that as well. I use it as a cover crop but will start harvesting bags of greens for salads this weekend being about 8-10 inches in the first beds planted...with scissors so they keep producing for a while.

I have Rye for the tomato beds but they are still producing and might for a while as last year i was still picking fruit into October. The salad greens will just grow a thick carpet and i pick until the holidays, with scissors for baby green salads until it snows.

I 5-second blanch the mixed greens, then pack in 1/2 pint containers with homemade chicken stock for the freezer and pull out later to add to soups all winter.

In the early Spring i double dig, no till, al that good thickly planted carpet of greens and shallow roots.

I could be so off the wall but i do believe thickly planting for health of soil and using as a cover crop is more effective directly seeded and thick like grass seed.

Today was the first cool day in NYC since June so we shall see how my plan goes.
Every year is a bit different as we all know.
15 yrs ago we had a hard frost the end of August in the Catskills...the last few years it has been frost free well into October.

Love my greens and does double duty as a cover crop. Another bonus is many come up in the spring for early greens. Even transplant fine into the kale bed.

I did buy about ten packets of sale mustard greens seeds for 25cents to add to the mix.

September 16, 2016	#23
oakley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: NewYork 5a Posts: 2,303	A bit of a different perspective on the fall hearty green cover crop....being in the North. I broadcasted a mixed bag of greens, kales and chards and beet and broccoli and arugula (from my micro mixes i grow all winter indoors)...in my salad beds that are 3.5x 10 ft, maybe 12. Thick like grass seed. And about three weeks ago when the temps were 85-90, night-time 55-60. Shade frames cover and lots of water. I'll plant some more this weekend when i pull the basil bed and the cilantro bed that i let bolt for seed. The bean bed is done so it might get some of that as well. I use it as a cover crop but will start harvesting bags of greens for salads this weekend being about 8-10 inches in the first beds planted...with scissors so they keep producing for a while. I have Rye for the tomato beds but they are still producing and might for a while as last year i was still picking fruit into October. The salad greens will just grow a thick carpet and i pick until the holidays, with scissors for baby green salads until it snows. I 5-second blanch the mixed greens, then pack in 1/2 pint containers with homemade chicken stock for the freezer and pull out later to add to soups all winter. In the early Spring i double dig, no till, al that good thickly planted carpet of greens and shallow roots. I could be so off the wall but i do believe thickly planting for health of soil and using as a cover crop is more effective directly seeded and thick like grass seed. Today was the first cool day in NYC since June so we shall see how my plan goes. Every year is a bit different as we all know. 15 yrs ago we had a hard frost the end of August in the Catskills...the last few years it has been frost free well into October. Love my greens and does double duty as a cover crop. Another bonus is many come up in the spring for early greens. Even transplant fine into the kale bed. I did buy about ten packets of sale mustard greens seeds for 25cents to add to the mix.