Green Manure

Green Manure

Green manures are slightly more specific than cover crops. Green manures are usually legumes, mustard and grasses that are grown specifically to increase soil organic matter and nutrients. Green manures help add nitrogen and other nutrients back into the soil.

The White Dutch Clover is a perennial clover variety that is a customer favorite for controlling erosion while protecting the soil! This legume is a living mulch of permanent cover that spreads by stolons. Grow low so takes close mowing and grazing. The White Dutch Clover benefits bees and insects as well as fixes nitrogen. Uses: Bees & Beneficial Insects, Chicken Forage, Deer Attractant, Erosion Control, Forage, Green Manure, Nitrogen Fixation, No Till, Weed Suppression

The Austrian Winter Pea, sometimes called black pea or field pea, is a great cool season legume for cover crops, wildlife and winter grazing! This cool-season, annual legume has good, nitrogen-fixing capabilities. The Austrian Winter Pea is a low-growing, viny legume which has been shown to fix over 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year. It has hollow, slender and succulent stems, 2 to 4 feet long. The foliage is pale green, and the flowers are colored, usually purple, pink or reddish. Uses: Chicken forage, deer attractant, forage, green manure, nitrogen fixation, no till, organic matter (biomass), weed suppression

The Indiangrass is a warm-season bunchgrass that is native to central and eastern North America and provides cover and food for wildlife. This grass can reach up to seven feet tall and is a common species of the Tallgrass Prairie. The beautiful, plume-like seed heads are very ornamental making them excellent for prairie and conservation mixtures.

The Winter Wheat is a cool weather grain that is quick to germinate, cold tolerant and is adaptable to a wide range of soils! This wheat can be sown in late summer for erosion control and tilled under in early spring to add organic matter. The Winter Wheat is winter hardy nearly anywhere, and won't go to seed until its second year of growth. Use: Erosion Control, Green Manure, Nitrogen Scavenger, No Till, Weed Suppression

The Crimson Clover is an attractive winter annual that can be planted fall or early spring and will protect and improve the soil. This good nitrogen fixer (70-150 lbs per acre per year) blooms showy crimson flowers in late spring that are an excellent source of nectar for bees. This variety inter-seeds well with grass, making it a great way to ready your vegetable garden for the spring or beautify a landscape! Not to be confused with the tough perennial clovers that can take over a meadow. Uses: Bees & Beneficial Insects, Chicken Forage, Compaction Control, Deer Attractant, Erosion Control, Forage, Green Manure, Nitrogen Fixation, No Till, Weed Suppression

A multipurpose cover crop blend that is sowed in fall! This wonderful blend will help with nitrogen fixation, adding organic matter and weed suppression. Contains a blend of Austrian Field Peas, Crimson Clover, Hairy Vetch, Annual and Winter Rye. Cut right after flowering in spring and till into soil for green manure. (30% Field Pea, 20% Crimson Clover, 20% Hairy Vetch, 15% Annual Rye, 15% Winter Rye) Seed Coverage: - 5 lbs covers 2,000-4,000 sqaure feet - 100 lbs covers 1-2 acres Uses: Green Manure, Nitrogen Fixation, No Till, Organic Matter (Biomass), Weed Suppression

The Sideoats Grama is a warm-season bunchgrass grain variety that is easy to grow and native throughout much of North America. The ornamental and distinctive seed spikes hang from only one side of the stalk, and these make good fresh or dried cuttings. This grain prefers full sun and moderate to dry soils. The Sideoats Grama is recommended for meadow and prairie plantings, beds & borders, and as a component of forage mixes for livestock and wildlife.

The Mississippi Silver cowpea is adapted to hot humid climates, but does well in most climates. This variety produces pods 6-7 " long, and that are colored silver, occasionally streaked with rose. The Mississippi Silver is easy to grow and shell. If you are using for Nitrogen fixation we highly recommend using a cowpea inoculant. Try with cowpea inoculant for maximum Nitrogen fixation.

The Zipper Cream cowpeas are very easy to grow and are a tasty Southern favorite! This variety produces bushy 2-3' plants that bear heavy yields. The 6-9" large pods have large, creamy-white seeds. There are 18-20 seeds per pod. The Zipper Cream is an easy to shell cowpea. Treated Seed.

The Quickpick Pinkeye cowpea is a bush type southern cowpea with early maturity and good disease resistance. This variety is a pinkeye Purplehull type variety that is determinate, erect, compact (reach about 20 inches), and non-vining. This cowpea gets its name, Quickpick, because it matures in about 60 days. The pods are dark-purple and about seven to eight inches long containing nine to eleven, kidney-shaped seeds with large, maroon colored eyes. If you are using for Nitrogen fixation we highly recommend using a cowpea inoculant. Try with cowpea inoculant for maximum Nitrogen fixation.

Pinkeye Purple Hull cowpea is one of the most popular varieties preferred by Southerners. Cowpeas in general are great for drying and canning. This variety's hulls are purple and its cowpeas are green with pinkeyes when freshly picked turning cream with dark maroon when dried. The Pinkeye Purple Hull produces pods that are six to seven inches long and purple. If you are using for Nitrogen fixation we highly recommend using a cowpea inoculant.

The Black Crowder cowpea is a high yielding variety of long pods. The cowpeas themselves have a deep purple color when first shelled which then turn black when dried. The Black Crowder's green pods are easy to shell. Try with cowpea inoculant for maximum Nitrogen fixation.