Cover Crops

What is a living mulch

Living mulch is a cover crop sown in the same area as a vegetable. This practice is also known as undersowing and has only recently begun to be used in vegetable crops. Not all cover crops are suited as living mulches.

Cover crops can boost your profits the first year you plant them. They can improve your bottom line even more over the years as their soil-improving effects accumulate. Other benefits—reducing pollution,erosion and weed and insect pressure—may be difficult to quantify or may not appear in your financial statements. Identifying these benefits, however, can help you make sound, long-term decisions for your whole farm. What follows are some important ways to evaluate the economic and ecological aspects of cover crops. These significant benefits (detailed below) vary by location and season, but at least two or three usually occur with any cover crop. Consult local farming groups and agencies with cover crop experience to figure more precise crop budgets.

Cover crops can play an important role in the stability of your soil. The more you use cover crops, the better your soil tilth. One reason is that cover crops, especially legumes, encourage populations of beneficial fungi and other microorganisms that help bind soil aggregates.

The fungi, called mycorrhizae, produce a water-insoluble protein known as glomalin, which catches and glues together particles of organic matter, plant cells, bacteria and other fungi, recent research suggests (372). Glomalin may be one of the most important substances in promoting and stabilizing soil aggregates.