After the success of solarizing cover crops last year in our high tunnel, we will be covering all the beds with clear plastic mulch to achieve termination ahead of our April 1 target plant date for tomatoes and peppers. Plastic is stapled into the wooden side boards of the raised beds, spanning two beds at a time, and the ends are covered with sand to seal in the heat. Hopefully, the few weeds that tend to grow in the aisle will also be terminated.
Cover crops seeded this year include spring oats and Austrian winter peas. The spring oats did not winter kill this year, despite the extreme cold that was experienced in January.
A no-till cover crop program was held on March 2 at DSAC in conjunction with Illinois Stewardship Alliance as part of their weeklong programming during Soil Health Week. Half of the beds were covered with the clear plastic and the other half was left uncovered to show participants the growth of the cover crops. The program created good conversation and networking between those that attended.
Pepper seedlings were germinated and potted up the last week of February, and tomato seedling trays are on the heat mats and beginning to germinate this second week of March. It has been our experience that pepper seedlings take a bit longer than tomatoes to get established and reach proper size for transplanting.
