MUSTARD

Cover Crop

Although this range of seed has the title of Cover Crop the same range has a number of uses. Cover crops are essentially used to suppress weeds in retired parts of the veggie garden, particularly over the winter months. However when the intention is to eventually turn the crop into the soil to provide nutrient and improve soil conditions it is often referred to as a Green Manure Crop. In these cases the crop is ideally turned into the soil before flowering while the plants are still soft.  A green Manure crop can also be referred to as a catch crop when its purpose is to soak-up or catch freely available soil nutrients over winter months, when it could otherwise be lost due to leaching. Another type of crop under this title is a Companion Crop, where a crop is sown in the spring and used to suppress weeds but allowed to flower. The plant species used in companion crops are chosen for their ability to produce flowers that attract beneficial insects to the garden. They can also be turned into the soil but the plants maturity means they are slower to decompose in the soil.