Heheheh, well I guess this is a true definition of "confusion abounds", eh?
Sorry, fiwit, it seemed Lee Anne was wondering about the pic, then you followed suit. From there we all went every which-away, eh?
And yep, the clover/buckwheat was there the whole time but I tend to speed read sometimes and perhaps, like me, your brain just didn't pick up on it. (I added those two as examples, one being a legume and the other non-legume, by the way.)
" Is it good for the soil if the same green manures are left in place for years or is there any thought to moving them from time to time?"
Sharon, yes, I'm a believer in rotating many crops but probably not a fanatic about it. Crop rotation was originally done so soil would not become depleted of nutrition. I'm sure you know this, what with some crops being heavy feeders and taking more from the land than giving back while others will take less from the soil and also put nutrition of some form in. Rotation of crops in a garden is similar to a bank account..we have to put in some form of deposit so we can make withdrawals, eh?
Although I've grown crimson clover in the same spot for several years in a row it is mainly grown as a fall/winter crop here, cut and turned in late winter/spring (or later). Other crops, normally food crops for me, are the rotation crops during the warm(er) months. I feel safe with clovers being grown several fall/winter seasons in a row because there is a low chance of disease infecting soil. The same is true with me and peas, "green peas" or "garden peas" to be exact. I have trellises I grow peas on in the late winter/spring (snow peas, sugar snaps, garden peas, etc). Since they only come in for a short period of time I follow them with pole beans (snaps or lima/butterbeans). The following year I will grow peas again on those same trellises simply because there hasn't been signs of any pea disease knocking them out. (I may or may not grow beans the second year, although many years I have, depending on the previous years growth. If I don't grow beans I'll use the same trellis for growing cucumbers or tomatoes on...neither one being a green manure/cover crop but benefiting from the previous pea/bean crops instead.)
Sheesh, I'm wordy sometimes, ain't I?
Shoe...off to eat butter beans for supper.
