Phacelia (LOCAL PRODUCT)

From Kenagy Family Farm

Phacelia tanacetifolia.  Four-season cover crop, winter hardy to 17ºF.  Good cold-soil germination, easy to kill and incorporate without mechanical tillage, flowers irresistable to all kinds of bees.  Seeds are much smaller than most cover crops - 1 lb bags (~200,000 seeds) plant up to 8,000 square feet if evenly dispersed.

Phacelia is Mark's favorite winter garden cover crop.  It survives most winters in western Oregon, and if sown densely it will create a solid ground cover even when planted in late October.  It is killed very easily by mowing to the ground, and its fine roots create excellent tilth with no matting in the top few inches of soil, allowing the ground to be gently worked and planted much earlier in the spring than areas under grain cover crops.  Phacelia can be blended with clover or vetch to add nitrogen fixation.  Left to flower, it attracts pollinators and will produce seed that can be saved for next year's crop. 

Kenagy Family Farm is an unconventional conventional farm that puts careful attention and effort to habitat and ecosystem stewardship. With a keen eye on invasive weed management they employ cultural, chemical, manual and mechanical techniques to keep seed crops the highest quality possible. Most crops are also grown no-till, as a part of a highly diversified and integrated system.