period of time.
- Approximately, a minimum of 0.5 lb of nitrogen is
needed per 100 sq ft of growing area annually. About
half of this can come from a legume, such as vetch
and/or cold-weather fava beans, such as the Banner
variety that lives to 10°F., interplanted with a winter
grain, such as wheat or cereal rye. This is a kind of
rotation in space. The vetch and favas would be
harvested while immature, when they are at 50%
flower, so the nitrogen fixed in their nodules can
remain in the soil. (If the legumes are allowed to go to
seed, the nitrogen will be taken up and used in the
formation of their seed.) The other half can come from
a good and sustainable addition of compost. - And/or rotation over time can also be used. This would
be when you grow a grain, such as corn in the main
season one year, and then grow a legume as a “catch
crop” afterwards—and harvest it at 50% flower to
keep the nitrogen in the soil.
Rotations
For many years Ecology Action often followed a heavy
giver, heavy feeder, light feeder, low nitrogen lover type
of crop rotation approach. However, we discovered that
this process, while it was good for organizing one type of
rotation program, was complicated and did not take
everything into account. One example is potatoes, which