Mabery 3 Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 I'm arranging the cover crop this year what would you recommend that will last a full season, any advice would be really helpful Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Personally I like something with a good kale content as it stands well all year and provides good cover during rain and snow. Some of the mixes can be good but some things don't grow quite so well in the North East as they will down South so talk with the seed suppliers. Maize is popular down this way but I'm not a huge fan of it on its own as a couple of hard frosts (which you will get more of up there) and some strong winds can really ****** it up. A good friend of mine has a couple of nice canary grass strips with his kale but this can often take until the second year to really work well. Is your land part of a Stewardship agreement as this may effect what can be planted? Whatever you go for I would ask whoever is planting it for you to plant the flushing points with a slightly wider drill as I find they birds can fly out easier and less chance of dogs pegging when there a few slightly sparse areas, just my favoured method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnie Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 What size is the machinery available to maintain plot, as some single strains will need spraying, fertiliser, so consider this when choosing your seed, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabery 3 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Thanks for the replies, spoke to the farmer today to arrange ploughing, so regarding machinery i have full acsess, at a cost!!! What i dont want is it to be dead,flat, gone by the middle of the season like this year No we are not in any stewardship so we can plant whatever is needed but cost has to be part of it, only a small shoot 10 guns so trying to do the best I can for the team Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Keep it simple, kale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabery 3 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 is that all kale or a percentage? If so what percentage would you recommend Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 It depends, are you needing just cover or are you wanting something that will produce feed/holding as well. If you want a percentage type crop I would want at least 40% kale and make the rest up with chicory and maybe mustard and triticale. Consider the comments from Konnie regarding spraying, there are some good spray resisting strains of seed you may want to use if you are planting on potentially dirty ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 (edited) Keep it simple, kale. Would be my choice in harsh conditions. Virtually nothing else will stand the weather. Edit to say...........A good crop of Kale will require regular dressings of fertiliser, don't skimp on it for the sake of a few quid and make sure you till a club root resistant variety if you intend to grow on the same ground in following years. Edited March 6, 2015 by CharlieT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Would be my choice in harsh conditions. Virtually nothing else will stand the weather. Edit to say...........A good crop of Kale will require regular dressings of fertiliser, don't skimp on it for the sake of a few quid and make sure you till a club root resistant variety if you intend to grow on the same ground in following years. I'm originally from Northumberland and quite a lot of the things people use further South won't stand up to the northern weather. We used to give the plots a good coating of manure, turn it in then give it a week or so for weeds to come through and spray off ready for the kale. Good stubble turnips were also a good cover and you can usually have them put in for free by whoever is farming your ground as they are able to graze them down at the end of the season. I would still stick to kale though and as Charlie has suggested, get a club root resistant variety as the extra small costs involved will be well worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabery 3 Posted March 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Thanks for all the replies kale it is then Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tharsus Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 We used Kale this season, lasted well and the birds liked it too, was in a very exposed spot and did well, farmers cows are grazing it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alycidon Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 If your farmer is in the HLS scheme you be limited in what you can do, I would have thought that if that were the case he would have told you. Kale providing you can establish it should work well but it wants a lot of TLC in its first couple of months. Soil temp conditions and moisture level are critical, should last 2 years. Problem with maize is badgers grazing it off in Sept to get at the cobs and it does not like hard frost and snow. We have used Chickory in the past, stands well in all weathers, wants a nurse crop with it the first year but should last 4 seasons. Dwarf sorgum is a nice game crop, very little feed value but it holds birds well. As others have said talk to your local seed agent or a major supplier like Kings. A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cumbrian top shot Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Had Kings game cover chaps out today, doing soil tests and talking about improving our crops, they will send out a full report in the next few days regarding what the different plots need and we are getting a bespoke seed package for each plot, as we had the same trouble as some of the posts above regarding crops becoming flat before Christmas, I know it will cost us but if we do it right our crops should be shootable right through the season as were fairly exposed where we are and get hammered by wind in the winter months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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