Green Manure Mustard Seed

A green manure is any one of a number of fast-growing, hardy plants designed to be used on patches of bare soil. You might use green manure plants to cover over spaces between two existing crop areas, or you may plant them after a crop harvest before the time the next crops are due to be sowed in. They are regularly used on allotments or vegetable gardens, as their foliage helps to smother weeds and improves the soil structure. If using between two crop cycles, the green plants can be dug into the ground in spring to return crucial nutrients to the soil before the next crop.

Green manure plants are generally used between late summer and autumn, as many of these hardy plants will grow long into winter. This will help keep the soil structure secure and solid during the winter months, preventing valuable nutrients from being washed away before the following spring when the next crops will be planted. Green manures are fast growing plants designed to take quickly in barren soil, and their foliage suppresses weed growth and provides shelter for beneficial ground insects.

Different spaces will benefit from different green manure plants, and different plants are more beneficial at different times of the year. Winter rye and tares, for example, will grow right through the winter in most climates and can then be incorporated back into the soil the following spring, while mustard seed is best used during the intervals between one crop and the next, generally being sown around late September. There are a number of helpful gardening blogs and websites online that can give you in-depth information about green manures, and help you decide what is best for you.