Cover Crops Can Help Urban Growers

Cover crops are a critical tool for improving soil quality on farms of all types and at all scales. Urban farms and gardens deal with unique challenges while growing in urban spaces that cover crops can help address. Urban soils can be heavily degraded when topsoil is removed for construction. Sites that previously hosted buildings also have heavily compacted soils. Compacted soil makes it difficult for crop roots to penetrate and access water and nutrients and limit water penetration which can cause flooding or standing water. Cover crops can also help address non-soil-specific problems, such as create forage for pollinators, reduce weed pressure, and prevent soil and nutrients from running off into waterways. The Michigan State University Extension cover crop team is releasing several tools to help urban growers incorporate cover crops into their soil management practices. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: Morning Ag Clips