Acres – Rethinking Orchard Sanitation
As the orchard industry transitioned into large-scale commercial systems many decades ago, growers faced a new reality: increasing disease and insect pressure.
Acres – Holistic Orchard Disease and Pest
Orchard crops may receive the most pesticide and chemical applications of all crops. Some varieties will receive 20 or more pesticide applications per year. This has become one of the main tasks for an orchardist: sitting in a tractor and spraying
Acres – A Better Floor Model
Grasses are one of the strongest soil restoration species on the planet. They’re the most diverse in terms of their ability to grow in all types of conditions and climates; they’re very resilient, and they are highly efficient at producing root exudates.
Enhancing Spring Cover Crops
In the fall of 2023, NM Healthy Soil partnered with Green Cover Seed to distribute one hundred 25-pound bags of a custom designed spring cover crop seed mix among attendees at the annual REGENERATE Conference, taking place in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This article is the first in a three-part series providing guidance on how to plan, plant and harvest a diverse spring cover crop in the Western United States.
No- Till Winter cover crop strategies
Maximizing cover crop benefits in the garden requires strong crop planning with strategic rotations coupled with creative improvision so it’s important to examine strategies and considerations for incorporating cover crops with no-till methods and inter-seeding.
Armoring You Soil For Winter
It is mid-summer, and that time of the year to order your winter cover crop seeds. In the previous article about winter cover crops for market gardens, I highlighted the important role winter cover crops play in providing diversity and building soil health. In this article I’ll examine the timing of winter cover crops and how to use late-seeded summer cover crops to provide residues and winter ground cover.
Diversity with Cover Crops
Cover crops are one of the best tools for achieving many of the soil health principles – keeping the soil armored, reducing disturbance, increasing diversity, and maintaining a living root throughout the year. Cover crops are essential for increasing diversity, and diversity of living plants is paramount for building soil aggregation, coupled with a resilient and functioning soil microbial population.