Cover Cropping The Soul

The first round of cover crop on the new land was a success and a failure. The cowpeas had fantastic germination. Every little bean sprouted due to the especially wet and warm June. Unfortunately, the weeds appreciated the great weather even more than the crop. The weeds had a veritable party in the fresh tilled soil. There was Johnsongrass, Bermudagrass, Fescue, Perennial Ryegrass, Crabgrass, Sour Dock, Lady Finger, Pigweed, Coreopsis, Horse Nettle, and more! The Crabgrass was the real life of the party - it flowered first and was forming seed when I disked it under this week. I had hoped to let the cowpeas flower before turning them under but I wasn't willing to risk a field full of even more crabgrass seed. Oh well.

While I hated disking it so soon, I felt like a real competent farmer making a hard decision like that. My pride was dashed later in the day when I stopped to chat with my neighbor. He stopped cutting hay so we could talk. He and I visited in the field with our tractors idling in the background to catch up on the local news. When I mentioned I was chopping up the crabgrass before it could set seed, my friend said "It won't make any difference, there is enough crabgrass seed in that piece of ground for the next ten years!"

I can only hope that my labors make a difference. The only thing I know for sure is that I got more chiggers out of those cowpeas than I've ever had in my life!