One of our favorite times of year is when summer passes and the rains return. It allows us to sow our fall cover crop, which helps create healthy soil. Our cover crop is a mixture of broom corn, pumpkin, nasturtium, clover, and millet. We pitch our seeds by broadcasting. It has a lower germination rate than drilling it into our soil by tractor. But we compensate by laying a sheet of mulch on top.

This year we're using a new strategy! We're coating our seeds in a bacterial fungus called Mycorrhiza. Mycorrhiza grows amongst the majority of plant roots. For instance, when you scrape away the detritus on a forest floor, you will find a white spider web looking filament called mycelium. This is the fungal network connecting all plants. Plants feed sugars into the fungus, and in return, they get beneficial nutrients, thus creating a lovely system of life! Developing a healthy fungal network in our soil should help it reach a better state over time.

This project takes place on our inaugural berm, which you can find while walking our half-mile farm trail, or joining us on one of our free farm tours at 2pm and 6pm every Saturday & Sunday.

Photos by Granger Coats