It's time to make a mess

It's been raining. OH HAS IT BEEN RAINING YAY WOO FINALLY!

Phew.

And it's about to clear off a little and warm up a little and hey wait! What's that I see? Is it big vigorous cover crops going to flower?! 

Why yes indeedy.

It's time - before we get all underway with spring planting fun and excitement and WHICH TOMATO VARIETIES ARE YOU TRYING THIS YEAR and such - to prep that soil for a big planting season ahead.

And the first step in spring soil prep is to take down those cover crops and winter food crops with enough pre-planting time on the calendar for those crops' plant material to be broken down and incorporated into your garden soil.

Let's make a mess, shall we?   

When to cut down cover crops

This is always a big question because, when you look at the garden with its bushy cover crops growing all lush and green when everything else in the garden looks rather puny and uninspired, it's hard to make yourself get the shears out to cut that good looking stuff down to the ground.

Aw, po-po cover crops, dying an early death at the hands of the ruthless gardener.

But as soon as you see blossoms hitting the soil and flower buds forming - IT'S TIME.

Flowers on the soil means beans on the plants. CHOP CHOP!

And when your last frost date is March 1 and you're planning to start planting by the beginning of April, you want to give those ruthlessly chopped crops at least a few weeks to a full month to be broken down in the soil.

This way, when you go to plant into that garden, all evidence of your brutal destruction will have vanished and, in its place, will be gorgeous healthy soil full of rich organic matter and happy soil microorganisms and bacteria ready to help out your spring and summer crops.

You want this.

How to cut down cover crops

Once you've made peace with the whole BUT THE COVER CROPS ARE SO GORGEOUS THAT I HATE TO CUT THEM DOWN, get out your shears and pruners and get out there.

The key to getting the full bang for your cover crop buck is to get the plant material cut into small pieces and to get the plants themselves cut off at soil level. 

By doing these two things, you'll give the soil microorganisms and bacteria lots of material to work on and in the right bite-sized pieces so that they can make quick work of your cover crop. By cutting your plants off at the soil level, rather than pulling them out completely, you leave the roots in the soil for the microorganisms and bacteria to work on and add lots of organic matter to the soil, too.

When you're done taking down your cover crop it should look like a chopped salad out there. If you have big stalks left over, save those for building your compost pile (stacked like logs at intervals in your compost pile lets air circulate so it never smells like poo) rather than trying to chop them up into your soil.

Why to cut down cover crops

Sure, we could leave the plants in the garden and let them go to flower and then to seed and then die back on their own time, but there really are good reasons to cut them back before they've set flowers and seed.

• Nutrients - Once plants start to set fruit/seed, they're starting to use the nutrient reserves in their roots. You want those nutrients, especially from legume crops (for nitrogen) like fava beans, bell beans and vetch, going into your soil. Be ruthless! Chop chop!
• Pest control - The longer plants live on in the garden, the more susceptible they are to disease and pests. So, that gorgeous mound of mustard greens and mini orchard of broccoli will be the perfect place for the first hatches of harlequin beetles, aphids and cabbage moths once the rains clear off for a split second.
• Planting - You want to grow a spring garden, right? Right. So, you need to make room for them and prepare that soil accordingly.

So - get out there and get to chopping. If it makes you feel better, think about all of the happy tomatoes and cucumbers and melons and beans and peppers and and and that you'll get to plant soon into that gorgeous healthy soil.

Plus, you get to make a mess, which is kinda fun, too.