Cover Crop Conundrum

[A.Lyric]

Last fall I planted a cover crop in my two 4' x 8' raised beds. Crimson Clover, Dutch Clover, and Elbon Rye. This was recommended by a gardener whose experience and knowledge
this "gardener-wannabe" very much admires and envies. My garden is small, but a huge source of pleasure, peace, satisfaction, as well as a welcomed diversion from a 24/7 caregiving role.
The cover crop has thrived and grown like crazy.

I knew that I was supposed to "turn" the cover crop, and let it decompose prior to planting this spring. So I grabbed my hand tools, all I've ever needed in my garden, and went out to
turn it. To my absolute shock, the soil in my raised beds has become impenetrable! It is literally knitted so tightly together that I couldn't budge the tiniest section without great and
sustained effort. I was so not expecting this, but it's my first experience with a cover crop.

Is this typical? Did I put in too many seeds? I have a big garden fork which I've never needed, but I tried using that to turn over the cover crop and couldn't get it in and under, either.
I admit to not being particularly strong, so maybe it's just a matter of not having adequate muscle power? Has anyone else on this forum put a cover crop in a raised bed? If so,
did you have difficulty turning it? Did it knit your soil tightly together?

I feel such a sense of urgency to resolve this somehow so I can get to planting. I messaged a master gardener in my area and asked if I might start the decomposition by covering
it with a tarp. She indicated I could do that, but I should give it two months to decompose before planting. I don't want to wait that long if there's another, better answer. In any
case, your thoughts will be welcomed if you can avoid scolding my ignorance.

 

[YumYum]

I don't know exactly what you have there but I grow clover and till it under every Spring but I use a tiller and I don't have any raised beds. I have mixed it with annual ryegrass before. The ground can get quite hard if you let it dry out too much and if it's too wet it doesn't till up right so you have to catch the ground damp/dry enough in between. It really does make a difference between light tilling and bouncing the tiller off the ground like it's concrete.

As far as the roots being weaved together like a pair of toughskin bluejeans, I have not noticed that to an extent that I couldn't get a shovel in the ground, other than the ground itself turning into concrete.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Crimson Clover, Dutch Clover, and Elbon Rye

I reach for radish and something like peas for my garden beds then use Dutch clover in my lawn as it becomes a perennial.

Has anyone else on this forum put a cover crop in a raised bed? If so, did you have difficulty turning it? Did it knit your soil tightly together?

Yes. And I have not found a system that really works for me.

1) Go take a look at this thread
2) Do you really need to turn over the WHOLE 4x8 bed?
3) What tools are you using? The "wrong" tool can make things really hard.
4) Watch this vid on knocking down a cover crop in a raised bed with a hoe. I have not done this yet but several of the things this guy does have worked for me in the past.

Anyway...
What are you going to plant in this bed for the season? If you're thinking about things like peppers and tomatoes I bet you can get away with chopping and dropping the cover crop now and only targeting some areas for turning it over.

Tools that work really well for me in turning my raised beds and hacking things out include:
A 4 tine digging fork
A hand held mattock
A large butcher's cleaver

 

[A.Lyric]

Yes. And I have not found a system that really works for me.

1) Go take a look at this thread

I did. Actually Meadowlark recommended the specific cover crop I planted last fall.

2) Do you really need to turn over the WHOLE 4x8 bed?

Being new to cover crops, I'm really not sure.

3) What tools are you using? The "wrong" tool can make things really hard.

The only tools I've ever needed in my raised beds are small hand tools. The soil has always been so easy to
dig and plant, hence my shock at it's impenetrable nature now.

4) Watch this vid on knocking down a cover crop in a raised bed with a hoe. I have not done this yet but several of the things this guy does have worked for me in the past.

The only "big" garden tool I even own is a garden fork and I did try to use that to turn it, but I could not get it in
and under the plants. It was like trying to dig concrete.

Anyway...
What are you going to plant in this bed for the season? If you're thinking about things like peppers and tomatoes I bet you can get away with chopping and dropping the cover crop now and only targeting some areas for turning it over.

Tools that work really well for me in turning my raised beds and hacking things out include:
A 4 tine digging fork
A hand held mattock
A large butcher's cleaver

I'll look up mattock as I don't know what it is. My son is currently out of state, but called recently and is going to
try mulching the cover crop with a mower and then turning it when he gets back. He definitely has more muscle, so I'm both hopeful and skeptical.

I also messaged a master gardener hotline in this area and asked if I should just cover the beds with a tarp to start
decomposition. The answer was yes, I could, but I should allow 2 months for it to decompose. I'll do that only as
a last resort because I don't want to wait 2 months to plant. On the other hand, I'm wondering how long it takes
to decompose if mulched with a mower and the roots dug up and exposed.

Lastly, I remember when I sowed the cover crop seeds I wondered how much I should sow and now I'm wondering if I sowed too many. When I first decided I liked the cover crop idea, my only experience with my soil was how easy and loose it was to work with. I wish I had researched more about how difficult it would be to TURN! lol

Anyway, thank you so much for your input!! I so appreciate it. (I haven't decided for sure what to plant, but
tomatoes and green peppers are a given.)

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Plants don't live without leaves, if you cut the tops the roots will die. Leaving the tops as mulch will keep the ground damp, which should help root decomposition, and make it easier to turn.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Yup, chop everything to the ground level and leave the leafs and tops on the garden bed surface. Maybe even crimp them a few times with a hoe which will break up cell walls at that point. You have a month at least until warm weather things go in the ground.

The question about turning over the whole bed was meant to get you thinking. No, you don't have to turn the whole thing over. Lets say you're planting 4 pepper plants at one per square foot. Cut everything to the ground in that square foot and only hack a hole just a little larger than the pepper plant transplant. Then keep anything that keeps coming back cut down or pulled back to not compete with the pepper.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Plants don't live without leaves, if you cut the tops the roots will die. Leaving the tops as mulch will keep the ground damp, which should help root decomposition, and make it easier to turn.

Could you please tell that to my black walnuts and mulberries?

 

[A.Lyric]

if you cut the tops the roots will die. Leaving the tops as mulch will keep the ground damp, which should help root decomposition, and make it easier to turn.

Thank you. As I understand it, leaving the tops as mulch will feed the soil, so that's been my plan. And anything that
will make it possible to turn it, is info I need!

 

[A.Lyric]

Yup, chop everything to the ground level and leave the leafs and tops on the garden bed surface. Maybe even crimp them a few times with a hoe which will break up cell walls at that point. You have a month at least until warm weather things go in the ground.

The question about turning over the whole bed was meant to get you thinking. No, you don't have to turn the whole thing over. Lets say you're planting 4 pepper plants at one per square foot. Cut everything to the ground in that square foot and only hack a hole just a little larger than the pepper plant transplant. Then keep anything that keeps coming back cut down or pulled back to not compete with the pepper.

It was 78 degrees yesterday. Today the high will be 72. I'm a little paranoid about it going to seed before I get the tops chopped. In any case, knowing I have the option of NOT turning every inch, even tho' that's my goal/hope, is good to
know, so I thank you for that.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The goal/hope I would be aiming for is to create a tilth, a thin layer of loose earth, by hoeing. Regular hoeing, maybe once a fortnight in the growing season, will knock down any new green plants and chop them into the tilth. The tilth is then helping to feed the ground, as well as providing a protective layer. Once it is mainly in shape it is amazing how quickly one can hoe over quite an area, and if you space plants so a hoe gets between them you quickly acquire the skill needed to hoe without knocking down the plants you actually want. Some people like the Dutch hoe, I go for a draw hoe. It has a long handle that allows me to reach on a quite large bed if I work from either side without standing on it and it tends to lift the earth below the tilth, a Dutch hoe can press down and flatten it

 

[Mr_Yan]

@A.Lyric my handheld mattock looks like this:

It's about the size of a hammer and is a single hand tool. I find it about perfect for 90% of the jobs in a raised bed. It easily works as a hoe or to hack a hole in the ground for a transplant or flipped on it's side to spread out and level the soil.

 

[A.Lyric]

@A.Lyric my handheld mattock looks like this:

I just looked Mattocks up on Amazon, possibly not the best place to purchase garden tools. From $18 to $75 in a wide variety of styles and purposes. I like yours. Pre cover crop, I rarely needed even a hand tool. Just garden gloves. I'm
hopeful I can post a happy ending to my loose soil turned cement story in the near future!

 

[A.Lyric]

The goal/hope I would be aiming for is to create a tilth, a thin layer of loose earth, by hoeing. Regular hoeing, maybe once a fortnight in the growing season, will knock down any new green plants and chop them into the tilth. The tilth is then helping to feed the ground, as well as providing a protective layer. Once it is mainly in shape it is amazing how quickly one can hoe over quite an area, and if you space plants so a hoe gets between them you quickly acquire the skill needed to hoe without knocking down the plants you actually want. Some people like the Dutch hoe, I go for a draw hoe. It has a long handle that allows me to reach on a quite large bed if I work from either side without standing on it and it tends to lift the earth below the tilth, a Dutch hoe can press down and flatten it

I've always mulched between vegetable plants, hand pulled any unwelcomed growth, had no serious trouble pulling up
plants at the end of their growing season, i.e., just never thought I needed a hoe. I dug through both beds once with a hand trowel looking for grubs that were going to overwinter.

I love my postage stamp size raised beds and don't begrudge time and effort spent in it.
The only limitation I have (well, aside from a lot of muscle) is know how...just a better understanding of what a
garden needs and when and why. My motivation is the awe I feel when I can put this teeny, benign looking seed
in the ground and I get to watch what happens.

At this point, I don't know what to expect going forward or what I might need. Maybe a hoe!

 

[Mr_Yan]

Cut down the leafy tops and leave it for a week then try again. Use anything that will cut it - scissors, hedge trimmer, string trimmer, lawnmower, broad sword, scalpel, guillotine, laser.

It will loosen up. Even in a week the fine roots will start to deteriorate.

 

[A.Lyric]

guillotine

OMGosh. That made me laugh!

Cut down the leafy tops and leave it for a week then try again. Use anything that will cut it - scissors, hedge trimmer, string trimmer, lawnmower, broad sword, scalpel, guillotine, laser.

It will loosen up. Even in a week the fine roots will start to deteriorate.

I'm a little concerned the string trimmer won't keep it in the garden. A mulching mower is my current plan, and I was wondering that very thing...how long it would then take the roots to lessen their grip. So thanks for that and for the
laugh. Broad and scapel were pretty funny...but the guillotine will make me laugh on and off all day! I definitely got the point!