Supply the raised bed in the kitchen garden or greenhouse with valuable nutrients. Autumn is the right time to sow a mixture for green manure.
Sowing green manure: a simple method for soil improvement
Every hobby gardener looks forward to a rich harvest. However, the crops need a lot of nutrients during the growing season to produce fruit. They remove this from the garden soil. At the end of summer, the soil in the kitchen garden is therefore very poor. The soil in the raised bed in particular must be fertilized if delicious vegetables are to grow there next year.
Green manure is an environmentally friendly method that...Improve garden soilcan. Certain plants are sown in September. You choose certain species that grow quickly and can be “harvested” after a short time. The clippings are then mixed with the soil in the raised bed and decomposed by the microorganisms in the soil. The resulting humus mass provides nutrients again and improves the soil quality.
The plants that are suitable for green manure fulfill another very important function. They can even root through loamy soil and thereby loosen it.
In addition, sowing plants for green manure is extremely easy. You don't need to worry about the seeds and care is also uncomplicated.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of this method is that the nutrients are not released into the soil all at once. The clippings are gradually decomposed and gradually released. Therefore, green manure acts as a type of long-term fertilizer. It is perfect for the kitchen garden, where many types of vegetables are heavy feeders.
Green manure is suitable for mixed crops
This fertilization is particularly recommended for mixed crops. The different plants there also have different requirements for the soil. If you add compost to the soil, it will quickly be washed away by rain and snow. Only plants with deep roots can absorb the nutrients. In contrast, the green manure method can support both shallow-rooted plants such as radishes and deep-rooted plants such as cauliflower, asparagus, tomatoes and beetroot.
By using green manure you can also prevent the top layer of soil from being washed away by rain.
Conclusion:Green manure is a simple method of soil improvement. You can save money and time by choosing the right mix and do something good for the environment in the process.
When choosing the right mixture for the vegetable garden, you should primarily focus on the plant family. Avoid incorporating crops and green manure plants from the same family one after the other. The following plants are ideal for green manurefor the raised bed:
- Alfalfa
- Real buckwheat
- Wiesenklee
- Bockshornklee
- rye
- Broad bean
- Multi-flowered ryegrass
- Brown mustard
- Bee pastures
- Weißklee
Mixtures for the raised bed in the vegetable garden
Alfalfa and sand oats:Mix the seeds in a 1 to 1 ratio. This combination quickly supplies nitrogen and suppresses plant growth. This mixture has another advantage: the plants die in winter and form a layer of mulch on the ground that protects it. This means that the nutrients cannot be washed away by rain and snow.
Winter roe and winter vetch:in a ratio of 4 to 1. This combination is perfect for green manure in late autumn. The winter roe tolerates the cold easily and loosens the clayey soil.
Mixtures for the raised bed in the greenhouse
Bee pastures and buckwheat:in a ratio of 1 to 1. Buckwheat is very fast-growing and its flowers are an important source of food for bees and other pollinating insects in late autumn. Cut the plants when they have already flowered for 10 days.
Clover and field peas:in a ratio of 2 to 1. The clover suppresses weed growth, attracts beneficial insects such as ground beetles and helps to combat the lesser cabbage white. The plant also produces beautiful flowers and can also tolerate shade well. Perfect for the raised bed in the greenhouse or in a shady spot in the kitchen garden.
You can of course also use the mixtures for the greenhouse in the garden and vice versa. The most important thing is that you mix the seeds in the right proportions.
Sowing green manure in autumn: instructions
You can sow the plants once a year, preferably in September. Proceed as follows:
First, remove weeds and loosen the soil with a shovel. Then sow the seeds as widely as possible over the entire area of the raised bed. Then cover the seeds with soil. If the day is sunny and the soil is a little dry, you can water it. The plants for green manure can get along with little care. Water them only when necessary. Depending on your wishes, you can cut them off after several weeks and work the clippings into the ground. Another option would be to just leave the plants.
Most of them die after permafrost sets in. The dead plant parts form a layer of mulch and protect the soil from rain and snow. They are gradually decomposed by soil life and can no longer be seen in spring. Then you can also use different onesPlant vegetables.
