Gidday
I am not sure of what ewe jokers call it but I will soon be harvesting my onion. Yes very late but we have had a real crappy season so far.
What I am wanting to know is:-
Can I grow a cover crop to hoe in between crops of onion. Like from late summer to about mid winter. I am wondering if there is something that can not only keep the soil covered as well as being used to add organic matter to the soil and also if such thing exists, to clean up the ground so I can follow with another crop of onions.
Or am I asking too much.
Green manure? Cover crop? ??
Green manure? Cover crop? ??
Cheers
just a Rough Country Boy.
just a Rough Country Boy.
Why not a quick growing legume, Jack?
Garden shed technology rules! - Muddypause
Our website on living more sustainably in the suburbs! - http://www.underthechokotree.com/
Our website on living more sustainably in the suburbs! - http://www.underthechokotree.com/
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supersprout
- Tom Good
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:34 pm
- Location: Peterborough
Hi Jack,
No reason not to give e.g. red clover a go - I'd personally find it fiddly around rows of other growing things, and would prefer to grow them alternately i.e. grow green manure, scythe down, plant onions, then mulch with the scythed stuff. Have you tried this approach? Mulch will condition the soil, keep it moist - we didn't need to water in last year's hot summer - and suppress weeds
Autumn and summer onion seed are sown six to a module about six weeks before planting out, which results in 3-4 viable seeds per module, then plant the whole module in dibber holes 8" apart or - easier for mulching - 6" apart in rows 9" apart. If you have some sets in reserve, you can plant those in any gaps that form in the rows
Hunions, leeks and garlic are mulched with straw as they grow (2" at the start <8" which will settle down into a weedproof layer around the plants) so you only need to twink out odd weed that breaks through. A thin layer of mulch also covers the growing tops and prevents birds picking them out in the early days. Any light organic soil conditioner will do - can you get some spent hops from a small brewer? I use straw because it's easy and cheap to get hold of and move around the plot. Others use a thin layer of grass mowings as the first mulch layer - they say cos it's dark it warms up the onion beds better than a light mulch.
If you want to feed the soil as well as condition, you can sprinkle over e.g. organic FB&B or chicken pellets as soon as it starts to get warm in Spring.
Ooh, just remembered a great link to info on growing tomatoes alternately with Hairy Vetch here: http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/ ... #msg235392
sorry the dates are N. Hemisphere, but I guess you're used to that
No reason not to give e.g. red clover a go - I'd personally find it fiddly around rows of other growing things, and would prefer to grow them alternately i.e. grow green manure, scythe down, plant onions, then mulch with the scythed stuff. Have you tried this approach? Mulch will condition the soil, keep it moist - we didn't need to water in last year's hot summer - and suppress weeds
Autumn and summer onion seed are sown six to a module about six weeks before planting out, which results in 3-4 viable seeds per module, then plant the whole module in dibber holes 8" apart or - easier for mulching - 6" apart in rows 9" apart. If you have some sets in reserve, you can plant those in any gaps that form in the rows
Hunions, leeks and garlic are mulched with straw as they grow (2" at the start <8" which will settle down into a weedproof layer around the plants) so you only need to twink out odd weed that breaks through. A thin layer of mulch also covers the growing tops and prevents birds picking them out in the early days. Any light organic soil conditioner will do - can you get some spent hops from a small brewer? I use straw because it's easy and cheap to get hold of and move around the plot. Others use a thin layer of grass mowings as the first mulch layer - they say cos it's dark it warms up the onion beds better than a light mulch.
If you want to feed the soil as well as condition, you can sprinkle over e.g. organic FB&B or chicken pellets as soon as it starts to get warm in Spring.
Ooh, just remembered a great link to info on growing tomatoes alternately with Hairy Vetch here: http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/ ... #msg235392
sorry the dates are N. Hemisphere, but I guess you're used to that