You might be familiar with fava beans as an edible crop, but this legume is more than just that: It's also a natural organic fertilizer (a green manure) that fixes nitrogen in the soil for other plants to use. By planting fava beans, you can improve soil fertility at the same time without needing to add other fertilizers.| Garden Betty
Organic mulches are the foundation of every healthy garden, and they have many benefits over other ground covers like rubber or pea gravel. Almost anything can be labeled as a mulch, so how do you know which one to use? And where? Let's break down my 12 favorite options for vegetable gardens, flower beds, and landscapes.| Garden Betty
You know that mulch is a good thing and every garden should have some. But do you know what kind and how much? It all depends on where you're using it, and in some cases, you might even want to leave your soil bare. Here's a breakdown of what type of mulch to use, what it's best suited for, and how to mulch more effectively.| Garden Betty
Cover cropping usually means growing a crop after your last harvest and returning it to the soil for its soil-building benefits. But you don't have to give up your veggie bed completely: these six edible cover crops are not only good for the garden, they're delicious too.| Garden Betty
Cover cropping is the farmer's "secret" for fertilizing and aerating soil naturally, but the practice of growing beneficial crops closely together can easily be done in a home garden. If you want to give your soil a nutrient boost while harvesting a delicious vegetable all season long, try growing Austrian winter peas.| Garden Betty
