Why
Use Cover Crops?
Cover crops feed the soil
which in turn nourishes us.
Just as our plants and animals
nourish us, cover crops nourish the soil, returning the energy we
remove as we harvest or graze. Cover crops repay the soil for the
benefits we take. We could treat the soil like dirt, pouring on
herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Treat it as nothing
more than an anchor for the roots. Alternatively, we can add sustainable
sources of energy, such as soil amendments, organic fertilizers
and cover crops which feed the soil instead of killing it. By nourishing
the soil, we in turn enhance the health of our crops and ultimately
ourselves.
Cover crops take up and store nutrients
needed by subsequent crops, suppress weeds, host beneficial insects,
improve the structure and arability of the soil, and can even break
up clay and hardpan. Most of all, when they are turned into the
soil, they provide food and energy for the real farmers, the organisms
that live and thrive in a healthy soil, feeding and caring for the
plants. Use cover crops to create a system which renews itself,
absorbing energy from the sun, taking up energy released by dying
micro-organisms, and releasing it in the fullness of time to new
generations of crops and microorganisms. Build a sustainable agriculture
guided by intelligence and care and started from seed.
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Organic
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