From: bae@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca (Beverly Erlebacher)
Subject: Re: Compost questions
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1993 19:34:18 GMT

In article <1993Sep16.124152.16701@cobra.uni.edu>, <klier@cobra.uni.edu> wrote:
>In article <CDEIAL.y2r@yktnews.watson.ibm.com>,
> clarke@watson.ibm.com (Ed Clarke) writes:

>> I myself am trying to decide what (if anything) to plant in my
>> garden for the winter.  Do winter cover crops really work?  Will I
>> be stuck with a horrible mess to turn under next spring?

> Where's "here"?  I've used buckwheat and oats for cover crops when I
> was working on clay soils... ANYTHING to improve the organic matter!
> That was zone 4/5 Iowa... where winterkill usually does a good job
> on cover crops.

Let me say some good things about oats.  They are cheap - just get the
kind sold for feed.  They will grow in cold wet weather.  They will
freeze to death about the time the ground freezes hard and will be
effortless to dig in the next spring.  Oats and other grains have a
very fibrous root system that helps develop a crumbly texture in heavy
soil.

You can find oats for sale in the city in small quantities in places
that sell food for rabbits, birds, pet rodents, etc. or in feed stores
in rural areas.

The current issue of Organic Gardening suggests sowing overwintering
crops like spinach mixed with oats: the oats grow, freeze, die and
protect the veggie plants, which get off to a fast start in the
spring.  This is a big win if you have heavy soil which can't be
worked early when it is cold and wet.  I'm going to try this method.
It's amazing what will overwinter, even in southern Canada, given the
chance.  Last year I overwintered lettuce, spinach, chicory and onions
with just a few inches of dead leaf mulch. I'm also going to plant
oats in the garlic plot.

Buckwheat is excellent in frost free weather, but is easily killed by
frost.  Use it as a cover/smother/soil-improver in late spring and
summer.  It is juicy and fairly easy to chop up and dig in with a hoe.
You can do this as soon as it starts to set seed, then plant another
crop of buckwheat if there is time, else get the oats off to an early
start.

I have only about 250 sq ft of intensive raised bed veggie garden, but
I find it worth while to 'fill in the blanks' in the fall with oats.
I have heavy soil and like Kay says: "ANYTHING to improve the organic
matter!"

Beverly Erlebacher
Toronto, Ontario Canada
AgCan Z6b  USDA Z5