D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

Crimson Clover Cover Crop Caper
Thu Mar 31 2011


So the moment is fast approaching for our cover crop of clover to be cut and the roots tilled in to the soil.
The theory is that the nitrogen fixing nodules in the clover roots will enrich our soil. AND the plants protected the soil from being compacted by all the winter rains.

Here's the growth....

It's an impressive pile of biomass is it not?

[album 65561 Cover Crop.jpg]

However, I was really hoping to see it bloom before we have to chop it down.

I wandered out there yesterday afternoon to have a look see. I poked around and saw nothing but green.

Rats.

But then something caught my eye in the middle of the patch...


[album 65561 First Clover.jpg]

It's the only one I could find so far. I hope the rest follow quickly! If nothing else, I will leave a couple of feet square of it growing to see the show. I think we have a few more weeks to go.

Hurry up clover blossoms!

Time's a wastin'!



3 Comments
  • From:
    Mamallama (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Mar 31 2011
    Very impressive indeed.

    What a beautiful flower!
  • From:
    Dustbunny3 (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Mar 31 2011
    Give them time to do there thing!
  • From:
    Salamander (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Apr 05 2011
    Yup. That puts the "mass" in bio-mass alright!

    If you pull up one of the roots you should be able to see the nodules where the nitrogen-fixing bacteria live. I remember doing that in basic biology freshman year of college, and then sectioning and staining the nodules to find the bacteria. It's one of the neater symbiotic relationships in nature, IMHO.