Cover crops
Pick a goal or the crop you are following, then open a note for timing and caveats. Pairs with What can I grow? and companion planting when you plan successions.
Goal
After this crop
Rough rotation memory for what the last planting tended to demand — not a soil test.
- Buckwheat
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
Classic summer gap filler: sow after an early harvest, let it bloom for pollinators if you can, then mow or till in before seeds mature unless you want volunteers.
- Hairy vetch
Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa)
Strong winter cover in many zones with excellent spring biomass — can become weedy if allowed to set seed.
- White clover (living mulch)
White Dutch or New Zealand white clover (Trifolium repens)
Perennial mindset: best for paths, bed shoulders, or orchards — not always ideal inside dense annual rotations unless you manage it aggressively.
- Mustard (biofumigation)
Selected mustard varieties (Brassica juncea and related)
Chop and incorporate quickly at flowering for the classic biofumigation window — timing and moisture matter more than most backyard guides admit.
- Winter rye
Cereal rye (Secale cereale)
Aggressive grower with allelopathic reputation — terminate early enough before corn or small seeds unless you plan a tilled stale seedbed.
- Sorghum–sudangrass hybrid
Sorghum × drummondii (warm-season grass)
Small-garden overkill unless you have space and mower time — great for empty lots or large community beds.