Category Archives: Vetch

Don’t count your weeds before they hatch: update on occultation vs. solarization for weed suppression in no-till cabbage

When I last wrote in June, I was really excited about how quickly the clear tarps were killing cover crops and weeds. I even proclaimed “the answer is clear: solarization is outperforming occultation.” Now that the tarps have been off … Continue reading

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Tarps for killing cover crops: mid-project update

UPDATE 8/24/16: Please see follow-up post on this experiment. Initially, the title of this post was “The answer is clear: solarization is outperforming occultation for killing cover crops.” At the time I originally wrote it, clear tarps were killing cover crops … Continue reading

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Under Cover: Rotational No-till and Mulching Systems for Organic Vegetable Farms in Germany

It sounds like there was a great turnout for Jan’s eOrganic webinar on the cut-and-carry mulch system he and his colleagues are using for organic vegetable production in Germany. My favorite quote: “You can completely screw up the system and … Continue reading

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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

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Two ingredient cover crop cocktails

Someone branded cover crop mixtures as “cocktails” and it has stuck. Even NRCS has adopted the “cocktail” label: Regardless of what they’re called, the new multi-species mixtures are very exciting, results are intriguing, and these cocktails are probably the cover cropping … Continue reading

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