Seth Kroeck - Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping: Soil Resiliency and Health on the Organic Farm

Organic Principles and Practices Handbook Series

A Project of the Northeast Organic Farming Association

Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping

Soil Resiliency and Health on the Organic Farm

Revised

Seth Kroeck

Illustrated by Jocelyn Langer

Chelsea Green Publishing

White River Junction, Vermont

Copyright 2004, 2011 by the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Originally published in 2004 as Soil Resiliency and

Health: Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping on the

Organic Farm.

Editorial Coordinator: Makenna Goodman

Project Manager: Bill Bokermann

Copy Editor: Cannon Labrie

Proofreader: Helen Walden

Indexer: Peggy Holloway

Designer: Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

Printed in the United States of America

First Chelsea Green printing March, 2011

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 11 12 13 14

Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because we use recycled paper, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping was printed on Joy White, a 30-percent postconsumer recycled paper supplied by Thomson-Shore.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kroeck, Seth.

Crop rotation and cover cropping : soil resiliency and health on the organic farm / Seth Kroeck ; illustrated by Jocelyn Langer.

p. cm. -- (Organic principles and practices handbook series)

A Project of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

Originally published: Barre, MA : Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council, 2004.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60358-345-9

1. Crop rotation--United States. 2. Cover crops--United States. 3. Organic farming--United States. I. Langer, Jocelyn. II. Title. III. Title: Soil resiliency and health on the organic farm. IV. Series: Organic principles and practices handbook series.

S603.K76 2011

631.452--dc22

2010051157

eISBN: 9781603583466

Chelsea Green Publishing Company

Post Office Box 428

White River Junction, VT 05001

(802) 295-6300

www.chelseagreen.com

Best Practices for Farmers and Gardeners

The NOFA handbook series is designed to give a comprehensive view of key farming practices from the organic perspective. The content is geared to serious farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders and those looking to make the transition to organic practices.

Many readers may have arrived at their own best methods to suit their situations of place and pocketbook. These handbooks may help practitioners review and reconsider their concepts and practices in light of holistic biological realities, classic works, and recent research.

Organic agriculture has deep roots and a complex paradigm that stands in bold contrast to the industrialized conventional agriculture that is dominant today. Its critical that organic farming get a fair hearing in the public arenaand that farmers have access not only to the real dirt on organic methods and practices but also to the concepts behind them.

About This Series

The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) is one of the oldest organic agriculture organizations in the country, dedicated to organic food production and a safer, healthier environment. NOFA has independent chapters in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

This handbook series began with a gift to NOFA/Mass and continues under the NOFA Interstate Council with support from NOFA/Mass and a generous grant from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). The project has utilized the expertise of NOFA members and other organic farmers and educators in the Northeast as writers and reviewers. Help also came from the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

Jocelyn Langer illustrated the series, and Jonathan von Ranson edited it and coordinated the project. The Manuals Project Committee included Bill Duesing, Steve Gilman, Elizabeth Henderson, Julie Rawson, and Jonathan von Ranson. The committee thanks SARE and the wonderful farmers and educators whose willing commitment it represents.

Contents

The author would like to acknowledge the extensive research and trials done by many talented authors and farmers in the Northeast. A handful of farmers contributed directly to this manual through interviews and correspondence and their acknowledgment here is in thanks for their generous advice during the busy summer months. These farmers include Dan Kaplan, Brookfield Farm; Julie Rawson, Many Hands Farm; Jean-Paul Courtens, Roxbury Farm; Eileen Droescher, Ol Turtle Farm; Jim Crawford, New Morning Farm; and Dave Colson, New Leaf Farm.

Hairy vetch.