Re: cover crop prior to fruit trees

[Claude Genest <genest@together.net>]

"something deep rooted" is definitely the right track.

My suggestion: don't limit yourself to one kind of crop. You can do a series
of plantings and/or plant several out together and see what happens.
Last year I used Fedco's soil building mix which is peas, oats and vetch.
The peas come up first, fix nitrogen for the oats which provide trellis for
the peas, and then the vetch pulls the whole lot down.

Just to see what would happen, I chucked in some left over buckwheat and
clover. Some took. All of it was food for my free range chickens.

Claude Genest

"The Greatest Fine Art of the future will be the making of a comfortable
living from a small piece of land."
- Abraham Lincoln 
Green Mountain Permaculture : Solutions, Sustainability, Sustenance....
> From: "dutch monkey" <pancakedave@onebox.com>
> Reply-To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 09:22:56 -0500
> To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Subject: cover crop prior to fruit trees
> 
> Hello everyone.  We've recently acquired some land in the
> southern appalachians and have been busy brainstorming tentative
> plans for garden space, pond sites, tree plantings, building
> spots, and everything.  We've picked some locations that
> are likely spots to plant trees, and what I was wondering
> is what can be done to improve the soil prior to planting.
> Right now we have 3-5" of good topsoil with a clay subsoil.
> Not the worst clay, but still mostly clay.  Existing vegetation
> in most places is not too thick with brambles and some herbaceous
> growth predominating.  Is there a "cover crop" that I could
> put in its place that would better prepare the soil for possible
> fall tree planting?  Maybe something deep-rooted?
> 
> Thanks,
> Dave
> 
> 
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