Saturday, October 08, 2022

GardenDC Podcast Episode 123: Cover Crops and Winter Bed Prep

In this episode, we talk all about cover crops and preparing our growing beds for winter with Gary Pilarchik of The Rusted Garden. The plant profile is on Fuchsia and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events.

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SHOW NOTES:
01:00 Introducing Gary Pilarchik of The Rusted Garden 01:40 Why does Gary garden? 03:30 What does Gary’s garden look like today? 07:13 Gary’s go-to plants 09:27 When to pull the plug on summer plantings 11:48 Soil temperature and shade cloth 15:25 What to do with empty beds 18:10 “I call it putting your beds to sleep.” -Gary 20:54 Hairy vetch Vicia villosa 23:46 Crop Rotation 27:18 Austrian Winterpea & other pods 29:33 Are cover crops a waste of food? 31:12 "Those last few green beans, if you have them on your vines right now, let them dry and collect those green beans to plant next year." -Kathy 32:21 Cover from clover 36:40 Forage radish 38:53 Mustard greens 42:17 “The Greens’” with Rye, Barley, Spring oats, etc. 44:20 The cream of the cover crops 45:48 Gary’s book, “The Modern Homestead Garden” 47:13 The last word from Gary 47:50 This week’s plant profile is… Fuchsia! 49:25 What’s new in the garden? Deer fences and a pumpkin harvest 49:56 What’s going on around town? Arlington national cemetery tours, persimmon festival, Philly flower show.

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:
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Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Editing: Brandie Bland
Show Notes: Jaime Breeden

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:55 PM

    Just to chime in, Hairy Vetch has worked well as a cover crop for me. Just followed the SARE recommendation of cutting down to the ground once it bloomed; just chopped & dropped the considerable plant mass and planted thru it. A few stragglers survived, but one quick snip solved it. So HV might not work in every garden, but it does in many. However, I have switched to Austrian Peas bc we enjoy the tasty pea sprouts in salads. So APeas are both a cover AND a crop. Plus the birds eat the sprouts, too. - KatieDCMac

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing that tip and your experience with Hairy Vetch, Katie!

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