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Re: Green crops

In a message dated 98-03-27 21:21:11 EST, you write:

<< 
 I live in a maritime climate which, I think, is similar to yours.  Cool,
 rainy winters with warm, relatively dry summers.  My soil type is a
 silty clay.  I get the best success with Broad Beans, which we call Fava
 Beans in the U.S.  They stand up well to the high moisture and can stand
 temperatures below zero C, which we have fairly often in winter.  Our
 normal extreme lows are -5 deg C (about 22F) although we have hit -15
 (near zero F) some years and the beans did not survive those temps very
 well unless they had snow cover -- which is rare.
  >>

I too live in a maritime climate,  but I am relatively frost free.  2 frosts
in 30 years according to the next door neighbors.   I have chosen to cultivate
as sort of a green crop a legume that grows as a weed in my area,  originally
from Eurasia.  Melilotus indicus,  sweet-clover.  It's a legume but not a real
clover,  and germinates with the first rains of the fall.  In my yard,  it
grows to about 2 feet tall.  It is a nitrogen fixer,  and easy to contain.
That is,  easy to pull if it grows where I dont want it.  It was growing on my
property when I moved in,  and I collected the seeds and brought them back
into the veggie garden.   I love the stuff.   It grows quickly,  has lots of
leaves,   is adapted to my area,  and it was free.  

I also have tried to grow another sweet-clover,  Melilotus albus,  but it
seems fussier,  and wont germinate for me until later spring.  Also,  its
plants are tall,  and leggy.  Not what I want.

I have never thought of growing Lupin as a covercrop.  I had some grow on my
hillside this year.  The first since I've been here in six years.  El Nino
rains and all.  Maybe I'll collect some of their seed and scatter it in the
garden.

Janet.
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