To get ready for winter we want to fill as much space as possible with cold-hardy cover crops. The soil microbes need to be fed with glucose from plant roots and kept moist to stay alive through the winter. Cold hardy crops like collard greens and turnips can keep the soil microbes active while cold hardy legumes like winter peas have the added benefit of fixing lots of nitrogen.
We also want to keep the soil and roots from freezing, so we put down as mulch as we can without smothering the plants. Straw is easy to pack around the plants and keep in place. Fall tree leaves are free and play host to beneficial insect larvae over the winter.
Winter greens like kale and collard greens can grow to a foot or more in diameter, so we want to plant them one foot apart and mulch in-between. Winter peas can be planted as close as one inch apart and can push their way up through a half inch layer of straw or other fine mulch.
Where I can’t get other cold-hardy crops to grow I fill in with winter peas until every square foot of annual garden space is growing plants by the end of November.
Links to More Information
Hardy Cover Crops – Growing Cover Crops in Zone 7 Gardens https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/gardening-by-zone/zone-7/cover-crops-in-zone-7.htm
9 Fall and Winter Greens to Grow Other than Kale https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/vegetables/fall-and-winter-greens-to-grow-other-than-kale-pictures
