Summer Garden Tip

We are in the midst of summer and one of the best ways to get in touch with agriculture and different types of food species is to grow your own food. At times, managing a garden can be overwhelming with work, family and vacation. Depending on where you live, managing water and the weeds that fill in open space are probably your biggest challenges.

In California, we have a bunch of different systems for irrigation. In humid regions like Europe and the East and Midwest of the United States, there are other ways to manage water in case rain doesn’t fall in a timely fashion. When water does find its way into the soil and sunlight shines on bare ground, an unmistakable time sink takes root and weeding becomes a battle.

I, like you, would rather spend my time picking vegetables and sharing the bounty. Chances are you were very ambitious about what you could grow, how much you could grow and we forget how to manage expectations. One of the easiest thing so you can do, in order to tame your garden is planting summer cover crops. Summer cover crop seed is found on the internet there’s a whole range of different species that have been researched that you can grow.\

I put them into three groups.

1) Pollinators to attract beneficial insects

2) Nitrogen fixers to add organic nitrogen to the soil

3) Fast-growing grasses to choke out weeds and add carbon.

I’m going to give you three different species that are grown all over the world. Now I know what you’re thinking, you spent all your time planting the garden in spring. Why would you want to do more work during summer? Well, chances are there is part of your garden or land that is out-of-control and needs your attention. By throwing down some seed in different places you can watch the seed do the work for you.

I’ve written different posts about how to manage cover crops. But for your sanity and to keep your experience of growing different crops alive. I recommend buckwheat as a pollinator, black-eyed peas as a nitrogen fixer and millet as a rapid-growing grass.

What other challenges do you have trying to grow your own food this summer?