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You are here: Home / Archives for Cover crops

Do you want to understand more about Cover Crops? Dave Clark explains how it works

17/10/2019 By

We are very fortunate to have Dave’s expertise in hosting many of the workshops at YCG and also volunteering his time in the Gardens, if you visit the Blue House you’ll be able to see some of Dave’s cover crop work in action. For the science behind this please read Dave’s article that follows:

We recently watched a presentation by Dr Christine Jones called Quorum Sensing in the Soil Microbiome, and strongly recommend it, however, in short:

The “Ah-ha” for us was photos of an agricultural experimental area where a paddock had been sown to crop in bare ground; no mulch, no cover crop. The area was currently in drought, and it looked very poorly. Adjacent was a paddock with the same crop and a 6-species cover crop looking somewhat better, but definitely stressed. In a corner of that field was a small area, about 100square m, where the cover crop mix had been expanded to 27 with the addition of a bunch of leftover seeds. This area was vibrant with crop and cover crop species growing vigorously and showing no stress whatever.

 

Back to the beginning: On this planet there are 550 Gigatonnes of carbon life forms (a GT is a billion tons) of which 450 GT is plants, 93 GT microbes various, and 7 GT of lifeforms we can see; insects, fish, birds, moluscs, animals and us. Of the total biomass of life on Earth humans total .01% by weight!

(Remember there are more microbes in a teaspoon of real soil than there are people on the Planet) We are embedded in a microbial world and they are embedded within us … there is no such thing as an independent life form.

 

It has been shown that animals which graze in a pasture rich in secondary plant compounds; tree leaves, forbs, weeds etc; have increased microbial diversity in the gut, increased ability to digest a wide variety of feeds, improved feed conversion efficiency and improved immune function. Likewise with us, people who consume 30 or more different plant foods per week* have healthier gut microbiomes and fewer health issues. The standard American Diet (& SAD is a very appropriate acronym) has been simplified to 5 basic foods and ours isn’t much better in some quarters. In the soil, plant pests and disease, low nutrient density and poor plant productivity are linked to to a low diversity in the soil microbiome.

 

This totally validates Permaculture’s long-held conviction that diversity in all things is of paramount importance!

 

A diversity of plants gives a diversity of root system profiles which give diversity in the soil microbiome. Thus it is for cover crops; diversity is paramount.

 

The Jena Biodiversity Experiment (Germany 2008) showed that diversified crops/covers support each other in times of stress (ie drought). More is better and there is NO competition. A diversity of cover crop plants can replace fertilizer with greater productivity. Soil carbon also increased with species richness and more plant species = more soil Carbon. In monocultures it declined over time. As well as more carbon and more nutrient availability in the soil, cover crop diversity created deeper soil. There is an 8 minute video on the Jena Biodiversity Experiment on YouTube.

 

A more local example recently was the Smith’s Wilith Farm in Atiamuri, NZ. They had ash soil with high sulpur content and extremely low fertility. Every known nutrient was required and they spent a fortune on chemicals to support their dairy. Three years ago after a workshop they changed their approch adding biostimulants then plant diversity and have created 6inches of soil since. Outcomes included CEC increased 50%; all nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous increased although none were added; Total Organic Carbon level in the top 8” trippled; milk production increased by 300liters; cow fertility increased by 80% and somatic cell count (which relates to mastitis and the price, if anything, that the milk company pays you) halved.

 

Plant diversity improves animal nutrition, growth rates, milk production & conception rates while reducing dependence on vets and building soil.

 

All the above is due to Quorum Sensing! In the microbial world QS refers to density dependent coordinated behaviour that regulates gene expression in the microbe population and/or the host plant or animal. It depends on the numbers and diversity of the microbe population and it occurs in bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses. If we carefully exhume a plant from healthy soil and it has a mass of soil and glomalin (the rhizosheath, which forms around the rhizosphere or root zone) attached, this is QS in action.

 

Similarly microbiota in our gut can switch our genes on or off and many of the autoimmune diseases we (now) have are due to the genes we need for immunity having been switched off due to our oversimplified diet. Without diversity in our gut biome these genes cannot be activated.

 

Dr Christine Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_i1EzR5U8

Jena Biodiversity Experiment, Germany

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3SvG2nBCTM

 

30+ plant based foods each week example:

 

Lemon/limes

Tumeric & Black Pepper

Ginger

Banana

Pawpaw

Passionfruit/Carambolas/Strawberries

LEAVES (young) of Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Dandelion, Moringa, Chicory, Broadleaf Plantain, Amaranth, Cranberry hibiscus, Farmers’ Friends (Cobblers’ pegs), Brahmi, Gota Kola

Spinach leaves – Sambung, Brazil, Lagos, Surinam, Okinawa, Tahitian

Herbs – try them all

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Onions

Eggplants

Capsicum

Chilli

Choko

Sweet potatoes

Pumpkin

Carrots

Celery

Avocado

Mushroom

Coco yam

Cassava and Taro root

Garlic

Olives, olive oil

Rice

Coconut oil

Chia seeds

Hemp hulls

Fenugreek seeds

Linseed/Flaxseed

Sunflower seeds

 

Filed Under: Fact Sheet, Permaculture Method, Recent Events Tagged With: biodiversity, Cover crops, Dave Clark, microbiome, nutrition, Permaculture in action

The Power Of Diverse Cover Crops

18/06/2019 By

We recently watched a presentation by Dr Christine Jones called Quorum Sensing in the Soil Microbiome, and strongly recommend it, however, in short:

The “Ah-ha” for us was photos of an agricultural experimental area where a paddock had been sown to crop in bare ground; no mulch, no cover crop. The area was currently in drought, and it looked very poorly. Adjacent was a paddock with the same crop and a 6-species cover crop looking somewhat better, but definitely stressed. In a corner of that field was a small area, about 100square m, where the cover crop mix had been expanded to 27 with the addition of a bunch of leftover seeds. This area was vibrant with crop and cover crop species growing vigorously and showing no stressYandina Community Gardens cover crops whatever.

Back to the beginning: On this planet there are 550 Gigatonnes of carbon life forms (a GT is a billion tons) of which 450 GT is plants, 93 GT microbes various, and 7 GT of lifeforms we can see; insects, fish, birds, moluscs, animals and us. Of the total biomass of life on Earth humans total .01% by weight!

(Remember there are more microbes in a teaspoon of real soil than there are people on the Planet) We are embedded in a microbial world and they are embedded within us … there is no such thing as an independent life form.

It has been shown that animals which graze in a pasture rich in secondary plant compounds; tree leaves, forbs, weeds etc; have increased microbial diversity in the gut, increased ability to digest a wide variety of feeds, improved feed conversion efficiency and improved immune function. Likewise with us, people who consume 30 or more different plant foods per week* have healthier gut microbiomes and fewer health issues. The standard American Diet (& SAD is a very appropriate acronym) has been simplified to 5 basic foods and ours isn’t much better in some quarters. In the soil, plant pests and disease, low nutrient density and poor plant productivity are linked to to a low diversity in the soil microbiome.

Diverse cover crops at Yandina Community GardensThis totally validates Permaculture’s long-held conviction that diversity in all things is of paramount importance!

A diversity of plants gives a diversity of root system profiles which give diversity in the soil microbiome. Thus it is for cover crops; diversity is paramount.

The Jena Biodiversity Experiment (Germany 2008) showed that diversified crops/covers support each other in times of stress (ie drought). More is better and there is NO competition. A diversity of cover crop plants can replace fertilizer with greater productivity. Soil carbon also increased with species richness and more plant species = more soil Carbon. In monocultures it declined over time. As well as more carbon and more nutrient availability in the soil, cover crop diversity created deeper soil. There is an 8 minute video on the Jena Biodiversity Experiment on YouTube.

A more local example recently was the Smith’s Wilith Farm in Atiamuri, NZ. They had ash soil with high sulpur content and extremely low fertility. Every known nutrient was required and they spent a fortune on chemicals to support their dairy. Three years ago after a workshop they changed their approch adding biostimulants then plant diversity and have created 6 inches of soil since. Outcomes included CEC increased 50%; all nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous increased although none were added; Total Organic Carbon level in the top 8” tripled; milk production increased by 300 liters; cow fertility increased by 80% and somatic cell count (which relates to mastitis and the price, if anything, that the milk company pays you) halved.

Plant diversity improves animal nutrition, growth rates, milk production & conception rates while reducing dependence on vets and building soil.

All the above is due to Quorum Sensing (QS)! In the microbial world QS refers to density dependent coordinated behaviour that regulates gene expression in the microbe population and/or the host plant or animal. It depends on the numbers and diversity of the microbe population and it occurs in bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses. If we carefully exhume a plant from healthy soil and it has a mass of soil and glomalin (the rhizosheath, which forms around the rhizosphere or root zone) attached, this is QS in action.

Similarly microbiota in our gut can switch our genes on or off and many of the autoimmune diseases we (now) have are due to the genes we need for immunity having been switched off due to our oversimplified diet. Without diversity in our gut biome these genes cannot be activated.

Dr Christine Jones

Jena Biodiversity Experiment, Germany

30+ plant based foods each week example:

Lemon/limes

Tumeric/Ginger/Black Pepper

Gota Kola

Banana

Pawpaw

Passionfruit/Carambolas/Strawberries

LEAVES (young) of Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Dandelion, Moringa, Chicory, Broadleaf Plantain, Amaranth

Spinach leaves – Sambung, Brazil, Lagos, Surinam, Okinawa, Tahitian

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Onions

Eggplants

Capsicum

Chilli

Choko

Sweet potatoes

Pumpkin

Carrots

Celery

Avocado

Mushroom

Coco yam/Cassava

Garlic

Olives, olive oil

Rice

Coconut oil

Filed Under: Permaculture Method Tagged With: biodiversity, Cover crops

How To Use Cover Crop Mixes in Your Garden

14/05/2019 By

Regenerative Agriculture farmers are moving away from industrial approaches to farming to avoid disturbing the soil and therefore the microbiome within it. We understand the importance of Diversity in our garden system and this will be reflected in the Soil Food Web of microbes & fungi.

In order to re-plant a crop after harvest remnant plants are “chipped” at, or JUST below, soil level and left to decompose in situ. Cutting plants off means their roots slowly decompose (returning their nutrients to the soil) and provides channels for air, water, microbes and eventually new roots to develop easily.

Into this a cover crop mix is broadcast and lightly “scratched” into the top centimetre of soil. Graeme Sait’s research has found the best results come from a blend of five families of plants: Legumes, Brassicas, Grasses & Cereals, as well as Chenopoids. These species seem to have an positive “aleopathic” effect on the plants around them so they ALL flourish. Other examples include true Dandelion, Moringa, and Ginger. In some examples, horse breeders insist on 80+ varieties to be included!

Peter Andrews (OAM) Natural Sequence Farming has used so-called “weed” species to improve his degraded soil over time so we really can forget about pulling weeds out by their roots for ever!!!

At YCG we have just chosen the following 9 species and their percentage of the mix:

Lucerne, Dunn Pea – Legumes (20%)

Mustard Greens – Brassica (5%)

Annual Rye grass & Barley – Grass & Cereal (70%)

Amaranth – Chenopoid (5%)

We’ve also included Chicory, Daikon for their deep tap roots bringing minerals up and providing flowers for pollinating insects. We could also have added Teff (purchased from Supermarket), Broad Leaf Plantain and Borage.

When sowing you only need a hand full of the mix for every square metre. After we’ve scratched them into the top centimetre of soil we’ll walk over them to apply some pressure for a better germination rate.

Filed Under: Permaculture Method Tagged With: Cover crops

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