I've read a lot about green manures but never tried them before, so the brassica bed provided the ideal spot to experiment. I've planted winter tares (common vetch) which, despite its name, can be planted earlier in the year.
The benefits of using green manures in crop rotation are numerous - they cover the ground while there's no other crops on so help keep the weeds down and stop the nutrients washing out of the soil.
They improve the soil structure and have a fantastic roots system which can pull up nutrients from deep down in the ground for use by other crops. I'm using the vetch as its particularly good at fixing nitrogen - ideal for the brassicas to follow. There are a few other weeds still in there, but I keep pulling them out (all but the purple dead nettle as the bees love it and I can't bring myself to deprive them of it).
It's grown an amazing amount in the past few weeks due to the amount of rain we've had and will soon be tall enough to cut down and dig into the soil.
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