Cover Crops as a Key Component to Vegetable Crop Rotations

On often-overlooked component to Beginning Farmers’ farm plans is the incorporation no cover crops into summer vegetable crop rotations.  During a tour of the Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s fields, we will look to see if we can detect differences between fields that have recently been cover cropped and areas that have not been cover cropped as recently.  Participants will learn the financial impacts of using cover crops during the main growing season as well as the more typical early and late season windows.  Attention will be given to mechanics and logistics, with an in-depth look at the equipment used to plant, maintain and till in the cover crops.  Workshop participants will try their hand at finding or making windows in a hypothetical (or their own farm’s) cropping schedule to accommodate cover crops.  Following the workshop, participants may enjoy a harvest-themed potluck supper—please bring food to share and a place setting.

Founded in 1999 by community members and a farm manager, The Poughkeepsie Farm Project runs a community farm that produces well over 100,000 pounds of vegetables per year for distribution to its CSA members, a farmer’s market and various other outlets targeting low-income people in Poughkeepsie.  Wendy and Asher Burkhart-Spiegel moved to tropical Poughkeepsie to take over the management of the farm in 2003 after a number of years working on vegetable farms in New Hampshire and Maine.

Some scholarships may be available for Beginning Farmers to attend this workshop.  For more information on scholarships or the content of this workshop, please contact Rachel at (585) 271-1979 ext. 511.  Please register for this event by visiting the NOFA-NY Shopping page or by calling Katie (Membership & Registration Coordinator) at (585)271-1979 ext 512.

Supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant #2010-49400-21847.