Any seasoned farmer is skeptical of any farming solution that just sounds too good to be true. However, in the case of cover crops, which can perform such a wide range of important duties, farmers do indeed have a solution to many tough problems that is both effective and time-tested.

Legumes can be thought of as the original fertilizer. Columella writes in Rome in the first century, “Where no kind of manure is to be had, I think the cultivation of lupines [a legume] will be found the readiest and best substitute. If they are sown about the middle of September in a poor soil, and then plowed in, they will answer as well as the best manure.”

Grasses perform numerous functions when used as cover crops: preventing erosion, inhibiting weed growth, increasing organic matter in soil, and nitrogen retention.

The plant family Brassica includes radishes, mustards, turnips, and cabbages, among many others. In the context of cover crops, the Brassicas are an excellent way to prevent weeds and reverse soil compaction.