Winter Cover Crops

Winter Cover Crops

Online Class Delivered Via Zoom

Live via Zoom

Description

You've heard of cover crops, but what are they and what do they do? Cover crops play a crucial role in sustainable agriculture by improving soil health, encouraging a healthy and diverse soil food web, supporting nutrient management, suppressing weeds, controlling pests, and retaining moisture. 

This Master Class session will explain these benefits and highlight the importance of cover crops as an integral stage in crop rotation systems when growing food sustainably. It explores various types of cover crops, emphasizing their benefits and contributions to gardening sustainability. By integrating cover cropping practices, gardeners can enhance soil fertility, reduce input costs, and promote environmental stewardship for long-term healthy food production in gardens big and small. 

This session is one of four in a Masterclass Series "Winter Gardening Skills". Other topics include – Grafting 101; Pruning Berry Vines and Bushes; Winter Cover Crops .  Book the Series Package for discount.  Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on Master Class full price tickets. You can become a Friend of SGA here. Green Garden Professional (GGPs) receive a 30% discount.

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What you will learn

  • How to use cover crops to protect and feed soil over winter

What you will get

  • Access to recording for 2 weeks

What to bring

  • no

What to wear

no

Appropriate for

Gardeners interested in crop cycle and cover crops or green manure


Sustainable Gardening Australia (SGA) is a not-for-profit non-government organiation dedicated to achieving a healthy biodiverse planet.

Its driving purpose is to:

  • Encourage, educate and enable home and professional gardeners to adopt sustainable gardening practices to protect or enhance the natural environment;
  • Provide information, education and undertake research about the natural environment;
  • Reconnect people to the natural world through gardening; and
  • Ensure an understanding of the impacts that gardening decisions about chemical and resource use have on the natural environment well beyond their neighbourhood.
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Your Teacher

Donna Livermore is an experienced educator and food grower with a background in biology, permaculture, wildlife and conservation education. She is passionate about living a life of good health and food resilience by growing high quality, nutrient dense food and has many years of experience garden farming on tiny urban sites, and more recently on a larger block in Central Victoria. One of Donna’s main goals is to help people understand the connection between soil, plant, human (animal) and planetary health through growing a productive food garden. Donna is reimagining what it means to live a good life and shares this with others in her local community and more widely through her Instagram page, A Good Life in the City & Town.

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4.5 (2 reviews)
Michele rated it
04 Jul 2024
Thank you to Donna and Teresa for a class on Winter Cover Crops. I learnt a lot and will encourage my fellow community gardeners to implement this wonderful way to improve the soil and thereby our crops.
Sustainable Gardening Australia 04 Jul 2024

Thanks for your feedback. It really was a very insightful session so we're pleased that you enjoyed it. Please send us any photos you have of you usingyour new found skills - info@sgaonline.org.au

Christinerated it
03 Jul 2024
Very well informed talk. Easy to understand. New things I learned;- Nitrogen scavengers e.g radishes and oats: buckwheat is alleopathic: how long it takes for cover crops to break down :flowering cover crops pull nutrients out of the soil: I belong to the Diggers Club so the mention of using the table of cover crops from the Diggers was helpful :using the brassica group as a cover crop I didn't realize you can use rocket, kale and cabbage I use mustard only out of this group; and the recent research using beetroot and spinach, I usually get heaps of beetroot seeds on just one plant, and wonder what to do with all the seeds: great idea putting clover under broccoli, never heard the term cocktail cover cropping and lastly, more info on" no till growers " youtube and the fact that this class will be available for the next 2 weeks. Thankyou,
Sustainable Gardening Australia 04 Jul 2024

Well that list is pretty long. You clearly gained alot from the session which is great to hear. This is why we run them, to take every gardener a little bit forward regardless of where they are at.  We look forward to some photos of your progress info@sgaonline.org.au  and look forward to seeing you at future sessions.


Cancellations & Refunds

If the organiser cancels the class:

You are entitled to a full refund.

If you can't attend the class:

Terms & Conditions

SGA’s Booking Conditions

  • Bookings are considered final once payment is made and no refunds will be given for non-attendance.
  • If there are insufficient numbers for an event it may be cancelled or postponed by SGA. If this is the case, you will be notified and given the option of either a full refund or a transfer to a different SGA event of equivalent value.
  • Please arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled starting time for registration and seating
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