Growing Cover Crops

"Cover crops are close-growing plants sown to cover bare ground in between plantings of vegetables. They are usually not harvested. They are planted to improve soil quality and to provide other benefits to the garden ecosystem." ~NYRP

We plant cover crops in the fall after we harvest vegetables since they are finished growing for the season.  We broadcast the cover crop seed on the soil's surface.  Then the cover crops germinate in the fall, establish themselves in the winter, and grow in the spring until we are ready to plant the new season's vegetables.