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Recent Posts
- At last, the soil podcast is here! November 3, 2017
- Don’t count your weeds before they hatch: update on occultation vs. solarization for weed suppression in no-till cabbage August 24, 2016
- Tarps for killing cover crops: mid-project update June 22, 2016
- Trading tillage for tarps: an effective way to kill weeds and cover crops? May 26, 2016
- Phacelia is a bumble bee paradise July 8, 2015
- Cover crop mixtures: new factsheet May 25, 2015
- If you can see it, it’s too much May 13, 2015
- No-till transplanted onions in New England April 12, 2015
- Trying high-residue no-till on a budget March 19, 2015
- Maine is the first state to pay tribute to soils during the International Year of Soils March 12, 2015
- The website will go on, but this project is ending… March 9, 2015
- Under Cover: Rotational No-till and Mulching Systems for Organic Vegetable Farms in Germany February 2, 2015
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Category Archives: Phacelia
Phacelia is a bumble bee paradise
In my narrow-minded search for fall-planted, low-residue, winterkilled cover crops, I tried growing phacelia a few times to suit this purpose. It did ok, but I found that with good fall growth, it really isn’t low-residue in spring. More on … Continue reading
Posted in Cover Crops, Phacelia
Tagged bumble bees, flowering cover crops, pollinators
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When cover crops die
I awoke to very frosty fields this morning, as is expected this time of year in Maine. The basil died long ago, the peppers have been limping along through light frost after light frost until they finally died last night. … Continue reading
Posted in Cover Crops, Phacelia, Radish, Rye, Soil temperature, Vetch
Tagged frost tolerance, winterkill
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Getting cover crop seeds (in a quantity you can use) and putting them in the ground
This morning, I received a timely question from a a farmer in New Jersey: “Is the ‘Tillage Radish’ that is protected / copyrighted a better product than say, Forage Radish from Fedco seeds?” Good question, and I had just been … Continue reading
Posted in Cover Crops, Equipment, Phacelia, Radish
Tagged Radish varieties
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Sometimes, less is more when it comes to cover crop residue
Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow in Maryland, and fields are neither drying out nor warming up quickly. Unlike a living cover or mulch that prevent the soil from drying in spring, low-residue winterkilled cover crops can facilitate faster … Continue reading
Posted in Cover Crops, Phacelia, Radish, Soil moisture, Soil temperature, Vegetables
Tagged biodrilling, infiltration, low-residue cover crop, subsoil moisture
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Results are in: Radish 300, Phacelia 200, Weeds 50.
How much N can cover crops capture? Cover crops planted in late August of last year captured up to 300 kg of N per hectare (270 lb N per acre)! The experiment station in Clarksville, MD where they were planted … Continue reading
Posted in Cover Crops, Deep Nitrogen, Nitrogen, Nutrient Cycling, Phacelia, Radish
Tagged catch crop, residual nitrogen
Comments Off on Results are in: Radish 300, Phacelia 200, Weeds 50.