This mix is equal parts Buckwheat, Alfalfa, Clover, Lentil & Fenugreek. It provides a great range of recommended plants to create a diverse cover crop mix. Never letting the top of your soil sit naked is one of the more valuable things you can do to help build and keep a healthy soil biology. The living plant roots are continuously interacting with the microbiology in the soil, feeding this biology through root exudates, which then results in valuable nutrients in the soil being transformed into bioavailable nutrients.
Lightly broadcast across your soil, and scratch into the soil to insure contact between the seeds and soil. Water, and throw down a very light mulch- such as organic straw, or a thin coat of rice hulls. Your cover crop will sprout through the mulch quickly.
Some people use a 'chop and drop' approach to manage their cover crop when it starts to get too high. But this can encourage the growth of thrips, as they thrive in the rotting green matter on top of the soil surface. Better to cut down the cover crop and compost it separately in your compost bin or worm bin to be added to your soil when it is properly broken down.
Application Rate: Top Dress - 1/2 to 1 tbsp per square foot of soil.
The use of cover crops is a strategy that all gardeners should pursue regardless of whether you are growing in a small patio planter or in a large back yard space. The benefits of a cover crop are many. They provide weed control, can provide a nitrogen source and help build organic matter which in turn increases soil structure.
All during these processes they scavenge and cycle nutrients from deeper down within the soil making them available to the root zone. In addition, seeds can be sprouted and blended up with water to make an enzyme rich foliar spray that is readily absorbed by the plants leaves.