I’m trying to reduce the tillage in the veggie garden. Here in Ontario I can’t flip beds from one item to another due to our short season. So I plant buckwheat after a summer production of cabbages. But now what do I do? I can’t tarp yet because there are beds still in production between buckwheat. I’ve ran out of 3 foot wide woven landscape plastic, so I can’t cover with it. I have always used cover crops but I also used a rototiller to terminated it. Soon this buckwheat will need to be dealt with and a second buckwheat crop planted until either I tarp or sow fall rye to help reduce quackgrass (allelopathic effect ) . Any suggestions ?
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I would mow, plant a second round of buckwheat, then later in the fall plant rye for the winter.
Do you have a trimmer with a blade on it? I find that is very good for getting a clean chop of plants and helping to stop them re-grow. It will also leave a nice matt of vegetation. I find that mowing buckwheat with a push mower or tractor that what is pushed over with the wheels will often continue to grow but if it is cut it will die. Also doesn’t look like it’s flowering yet. I’d wait for at least some flowers.
The other option is to fold your silage tarps to they’re just covering the one bed. Cumbersome but would save buying more single row tarps.
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