Cover Crops

Beyond dead dirt: healthy soil is alive

Maryland Grows1 Comment

This post is modified from an article originally published in The Delmarva Farmer (2/13/2018)

Most people would probably be surprised to know that bacterial cells outnumber human cells in our bodies by 10-to-1 and that just one teaspoon of healthy soil contains more than 1 billion bacteria and fungi (microbes for short). Yuck, right?  Well, not exactly.

SoilMicrobes have gotten a bad rap because the small fraction of bacteria and fungi that cause disease get all the attention.  In fact, most microbes are friendly, and neither humans nor plants can live without them.

Although the chemical and physical properties of soil have dominated discussion (and soil testing) in the past, the focus is now changing as soil is recognized as a living ecosystem.  With this change, it is becoming clear that sustained agricultural productivity requires farming practices that protect the soil and increase the diversity of life underground.  Home gardeners can also benefit from gardening strategies that protect and promote the living things in their garden soil.

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Tiller radish = improved soil

Maryland Grows3 Comments

Ray Weil, a professor and soil scientist at UM, and his graduate students study and promote tiller radish as a fall cover crop for farmers and gardeners. Here’s a photo of tiller radish (a.ka. forage radish or Daikon radish) interplanted with oats at the Central Maryland Research and Education Center in Clarksville.

The large white storage roots grew to 8 inches in just 6 weeks-7 weeks. The radish roots “bio-drill” the soil which opens up large pore spaces and improves the structure of soils high in clay. soil structure. Both crops are killed by freezing temperatures leaving a mat of dead plant residues that help suppress weed growth in spring. The radishes decompose rapidly leaving behind large pore spaces that increase air and water movement and biological activity, resulting in better root and plant growth next season.

Two caveats: the tillage radish can provide a comfy late-season home for the harlequin bugs you battled on your fall kale, mustard, and broccoli. And if you plant a large area to these radishes you and your neighbors may detect a sulfur aroma as radishes rot in the soil. Still, this is an exciting new cover crop to try spring or fall.