What Cover Crops Should I Plant in Fall in California?
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Fava beans, crimson clover, and annual rye are the three best cover crops for home gardens in Santa Cruz County. They protect bare soil through winter, add nutrients, and improve soil structure with almost no effort.
Cover crops are plants you grow not to eat, but to feed and protect your soil. When planted in fall and cut down in spring, they add organic matter, prevent erosion from winter rains, suppress weeds, and (in the case of legumes like fava beans and clover) convert atmospheric nitrogen into plant-available fertilizer. UC ANR's cover crop resource guide shows that legume cover crops can add 50 to 150 pounds of nitrogen per acre, reducing or eliminating the need for fertilizer the following season.
For most home vegetable gardens, fava beans are the top choice. They grow well in Santa Cruz's cool, wet winters, they fix nitrogen, and you can eat some of the beans as a bonus. Plant them in October or November, about 4 to 6 inches apart. Crimson clover is excellent for beds where you want dense ground coverage and beautiful red flowers in spring (which also feed pollinators). Annual rye is the go-to for weed suppression and erosion control, especially on sloped gardens.
Cut or mow your cover crop about 3 weeks before you want to plant spring vegetables. Turn the residue into the soil or lay it on the surface as mulch. Either way, it breaks down and feeds the next season's crops. In Santa Cruz's mild climate, cover crops grow vigorously all winter, so even a small bed planted in November will produce a substantial amount of organic matter by March.
This week: Identify one garden bed that will be empty this winter and scatter fava bean or crimson clover seed. Water it in and let the rain take over from there.
Our free Seasonal Tasks Checklist includes cover crop timing and a guide to building soil health naturally.
