Very well done video! We live in Minnesota, USA. The thought occurred to me, considering the UK has been civilized for so much longer than the USA, I’m wondering how similar/dissimilar our soils actually are? Obviously, in the US, the Frankenstein-Farming,Corporate farming practices have greatly disrupted and destroyed our ecosystems of our soil! Thanks to the growing efforts of conscience minded organic farmers, there’s a growing population of farmers who need to implement good practices, which YOU are teaching so well in this video! I’d love to see the biological differences and similarities between our continent’s soils! And especially what we can learn from you that works equally as well!
The indigenous people of the Americas actually had ecological farming down pat. Civilized a much earlier time period than white people are willing to acknowledge. I wonder why that is???
Great video. I run a 300ha commercial seed operation in Moçambique. I am a big fan of green manure crops and run the operation at around 30% green manure of either Sunhemp or Mustard. Part of Phoenix Seeds is to get small subsistance farmers involved into planting green manure crops. Our principal use for green manures is for soul rehabilitation with the added advantage of disease management. Thanks for the effort in making this video.
Wow! I was ahead of you and the section you’re saying about having livestock grazing on green manure crops ! I’d still appreciate your answer and suggestions. Some say horses hooves can be destructive and pack soil! Others say it doesn’t. Thanks 🙏
Bacteria and mycelium control absorbation of nutrients by plants such as iron which is more important than nitrogen. Raw Milk is a good bacterial inoculation source as is cow and human manure and urine.
Hairy vetch fell out of favor because of the hard seed planting in the fall the hard seed would not germinate that fall but would germinate the following year interfering with possible wheat rotation
Being up north UK I get that challenge with all winter covers which I have to get in by mid August. Exception is V. faba which I can sow in November but it doesn't give much cover when sown then.
Excellent video. The comprehensive information was the best I have seen on RU-vid. I plan to implement a few management activities using this information on my farm. Cheers!
When you're expecting to drill seed into very dense cover crops you need an attachment on the planter called a "slicer" that'll cut through the cover crop and into the soil a bit so the seed drill can place the seeds into the correct soil depth. You forgot to add peas, they're an excellent choice for legumes in colder climates.
Same challenges: species/cultivar selection and mix for your soil and climate, timing into rotations, establishment, incorporation/ knocking back, sowing 'cash' crop through residue in time, getting the cash crop out and a winter green manure established in time. Difference is scale. I've no machinery for my garden sop I only sow what I can slice down with hand shears then incorporate by lightly slicing into the soil with a spade. Rye was the hardest to incorporate with spade, particularly with a heavy silt soil that compacts so I won't be using that again. Clovers (fixer), field beans v. faba (fixer), sunflower (lifter), chicory (lifter) were easier. Daikon radish (white icicle) I tried as a 'cash' crop because but it didn't go deep However the inputs to one's normal rotation for a gardener / allotmenteer isn't costing tens of thousands of £/$, machinery / fuel isn't costing hundreds of thousands and one's livelihood doesn't depend on results.
On that lovely example of broccoli with white or red clover together, could horses be let out on it to graze AFTER harvesting the crowns of broccoli? What would the pros and cons be?
I think you want some of the broccoli to go to seed so you dont have to pay for seed the next year, farmers tend to cull a crop after it goes to seed so that it can grow itself back for a new season So maybe if you dont over harvest or collect your own seed that would work?
Buy local seeds and cultivars. The UK and US have very different latitudes and climates. Also in the US there is a huge climate difference between different areas. By using a local-ish seed merchant you'll get cultivars that are good for your area and hardy enough for your continental winters.
Are there any one can sow January (Aberdeen)? Following winter brassica and roots harvest? Vetch sown Sep shot up but rye didn't germinate . (Acid podzol/anthroposol)
Thank you Ian and thank you Cotswold Seeds. For farming operations that follow organic principles, how would you suggest no-till seeding these mixtures into existing sod? Can't wait for you to elaborate on how to sow these crops into pasture. - Would you suggest grazing and then spraying the existing sod first? I was thinking Pelargonic acid as it is more widely accepted as a natural contact herbicide that denatures after a few days and doesn't leave residue in the soil. - In your expertise which species would have the best fighting chance in established cool season pasture? Clovers and chicory perhaps? - And can seed be sown into dry soil to await the rains? Thank you again!
I'd like to see a soil test after a legume cover crop. Actually a before and then after. Nitrogen fixing plants seem to make just enough Nitrogen for their own use and what is left over is consumed by the decomposers when the nitrogen fixing plant dies. My soil tests are telling me that no matter the cover crop 'fertility' is my responsibility. Nitrogen is not a balanced 'fertilizer'. I like being in charge of the chemistry of my soils and believe me my soils are alive and productive. I feed my soil organisms decomposed organic matter. Right on top, smothers weeds and weed seeds and then the organisms come up, eat the decomposed organic matter, go back down in the soil, poop it out mixing it into the soil better than we humans could do. The percentage of N to P and K is critical to KNOW. Otherwise you'll get lots of vegetative growth and no tomatoes! Or you'll see the symptoms of deficits and excesses of chemistry (I do not say nutrients) and could adjust but that is tedious. I've never ever found a 'fertile' soil. Those chemicals are USED. I only care about TILTH of a soil. People think a yummy, friable, moist, dark soil is fertile...grins...NOT!!
How are you measuring macroelements? As far as I've recently learned, conventional methods only measure mineralized fraction and that is not all the actual amount. I could try to find the source, if you are interested.
The roots in the graphic above are not accurate. Roots stay within the top 4 to 6 inches IF we water deeply and then allow to dry out to force the roots to get at the moisture half a foot down. 95 percent (something like that anyway) of all roots are within the to 4 to 6 inches of soil. There are plants that blow that out of the water with mile deep roots as well as wide.
Roots will go as deep as they can, with healthy aggregated soil water and air penetrates deeper bring soil life deeper into the soil profile. Dr. Elaine Ingham (soil biologist) consulted for a golf course using compost tea to break an an aerobic hard pan. The turf grass roots witch had previously been only 1 1/2 inch deep went down 30 inches within 6 months because she got the biology right. It's funny how people treat the top 6 inches of soil as if it were all the soil material we have. Its important to remember that your not growing row crops in flower pots so you should do your best to increase your soil health at depth.
