In permaculture and synergistic agriculture green manure is a practice for soil care that is added to mulching, crop rotation and companion planting and the use of compost macerates. Green manure plants are grown with the specific purpose of improving the soil to which they are mixed immediately, or once withered. In this way humus formation is favoured, soil vitality, retention of nutrients that could be washed away by rain and drying out and excessive temperature changes are prevented. Moreover the soil is lightened and enriched with nitrogen.
Green manure plants can be sown between rows, or as the main crop. Many flowering plants suitable for green manure are also a good attraction for bees and are suitable for being planted even under trees. Plants must be mown before flowering, but if one wants to repeat the operation it’s important to wait for plants to form seeds and self-seed before mowing. Cuttings must be mixed superficially into the soil and already after 3 weeks the first vegetables can be planted. To avoid diseases vegetables must belong to different families from those of plants used for green manure.
10 green manure plants to enrich the soil and embellish your crops:
- Buckwheat: grows rapidly and aerates the soil. It can also be used as food for domestic animals and pasture for bees.
- Yellow Mustard: thanks to the creation of a mass of roots yellow mustard contributes to humus formation and loosens the soil.
- Lupin: contributes to humus formation because it produces much green mass.
- Persian Clover: is perfect under fruit trees and berry bushes. It creates much root mass, therefore is useful in humus formation. It’s a valid ally in horseradish and cabbage cultivation as it keeps pests away.
- Alfalfa: suitable for heavy and very compact soils. Its taproots loosen the soil deeply. Moreover it provides nitrogen and nutritional elements for crops that will be planted there.
- Spinach: is a good plant to alternate with other crops, grows quickly and helps humus formation. It must not be sown before and after beetroot, chard and spinach cultivation.
- Sweet Clover: keeps mice away and for this reason is suitable for being planted under trees. It accumulates nitrogen, attracts bees and hoverflies and keeps away cabbage fly and cabbage white butterfly.
- Red Clover: on its taproots microbacteria form which enrich the soil with nitrogen. Red clover is perennial, forms humus, prepares the soil for subsequent crops and is food for domestic animals.
- Calendula: in addition to being a very beautiful plant, it fights nematodes, germinates very easily, makes the soil soft.
- Vetch: Acts very well in smothering weeds because it produces much green mass. It puts down deep roots in the earth and enriches it with nitrogen.
