Are you interested in growing out cover crops for seed? Whether you are new to seed saving or an experienced grower, have just a little bit of space or a lot –everyone is welcome to the inaugural meeting of the NM Cover Crop Seed Collective. By pooling our resources, we can improve access to cover crops, develop locally adapted seed and create seed security.
In this inaugural gathering, Beata Tsoesie-Peña with Tewa Women United grounds us in why seed saving is important in working towards food sovereignty and a local economy of sharing. Christine Salem with Rio Grande Grain introduces seed saving basics, terminology and mechanics. Claudia Reynoso with NM Healthy Soil Working Group explains the importance of cover crops for soil health and how to get started. Plus some surprise guests!
Resources:
Principles of Cover Cropping for Arid and Semi-arid Farming Systems, NMSU Guide A-150 by John Idowu and Kulbhushan Grover, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University. Includes a list of the most common summer and winter cover crops for New Mexico, their characteristics and seeding rates.
Soil Health Resource Guide, Annually released by GreenCover Seed, this guide features articles by David Montgomery, Christine Jones, Gabe Brown, Ray Archuleta, Dwayne Beck, Steve Groff, Matt Hagny, Peter Donovan, Jim Johnson, and many more! Download a PDF of the 2020 Soil Health Resource Guide or order a physical copy for free.
SmartMix Calculator, Developed by GreenCover Seed you can use this tool to create a custom multi-species cover crop mix. Unfortunately, most of GreenCover Seeds are hybrid varieties and therefore not ideal for seed saving purposes, but you can use the SmartMix Calculator to put your multi-species cover crop mix together and then purchase open pollinated seeds from the sources below.
Plants of the Southwest, open pollinated cover crop seeds, plus grasses and wildflowers native to New Mexico. Experiment! Store locations in Albuquerque and Santa Fe offer a discount of 10% in the fall.
Sow True Seed carries heirloom, organic and small farmer-grown cover crop seed with a mission to encourage seed saving for a resilient food system. Order online.
Territorial Seed Company offers open pollinated and heirloom cover crop seeds. Order online.
Jay Hughey
Hello & thank you for sharing this information. I have lived in SWNM on & off all my life but only recently discovered winter crops & had never heard of cover crops (yup, sheltered life). Peaked my interest so for the first time in my 48 years of life, I am starting my very first winter cover crop & will be passing my experiences onto others. Thanks again & many Blessings.