I missed Jose and the crew planting the cover crop at 6.30 in the orchard this morning. I picked up the seed yesterday in Woodland and left the truck parked in the yard. Friday is a day that I do not set and alarm. Saturday is market day and we ease out of bed around 3.45 am.
The cover crop is a mix of peas, bell beans and vetch. It has the potential of making all the nitrogen that the orchard trees and vines will need next summer. The seed is inoculated with a mycorrhiza fungi which fixes nitrogen from the air leaving nodules full of nitrogen on the roots of the cover crop. As the cover crop is tilled into the soil next spring the soil micro-fauna work on the nodules and release the nitrogen . Leaving the soil in a better state for future generations is fundamental here at Eatwell Farm.