Notes from Groundwater Recharge, Cover Crops and El Niño Preparation Field Day

A few notes for people who couldn't attend the "Groundwater Recharge, Cover Crops and El Niño Preparation Field Day" this past Tuesday. 

First, you should have been there.  This was extension at its finest, with Richard Smith, Michael Cahn and Eric Brennan leading the charge on an immensely interesting and relevant meeting.

The upshot of the whole deal is that the use of cover crops on bare vegetable ground is really helpful in both managing erosion and retaining water which then goes back down into the water table - something we are sorely needing of after several years of drought.

For strawberries, which are of course grown in beds covered with plastic mulch, the use of a cover crop (the meeting focused on mustard) in the furrows will go a long ways in minimizing erosion and loss of soil during rainstorms.  Key point for establishment is the miniscule amount of water needed to establish it with the drip tape placed in the furrow, Eric shared that it was less than a quarter inch to get the crop to the point we saw on Tuesday - and this was during a hot spell to boot.

A more in-depth discussion of this important topic is here:

http://cesantacruz.ucanr.edu/files/221436.pdf

Finally, if you are interested Eric has 1600 lb of mustard seed to give away, and will even loan out his planter (seriously!) for anyone who is interested in planting cover crop this year.

 

 

 

"The time to plant these cover crops is now!" Two UCCE professionals, Richard Smith and Michael Cahn, on task promoting sensible strategies for El Niño preparation.

Mustard cover crop in strawberry. This particular plot was planted Sept 4, which while for demonstration purposes of the field day, may have been a bit early.

Planter for mustard seed in furrows.

Planting density of mustard, rate per acre should be around 5 lbs.

It's OK, you can walk on the mustard, it won't kill or even damage it. Good news for planting and field operations in strawberry.

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