09/19/2026
A little break from the flower pictures to talk about something that happens behind the scenes here at Covey Fields: soil health.
Beautiful, healthy flowers start with healthy soil, so even when I’m not growing flowers in a bed, I’m trying to keep the soil working.
This is a mix of buckwheat, oats, peas, mustard + crimson clover, and it helps:
• protect soil from wind + erosion
• suppress weeds
• add organic matter
• improve soil structure + water retention
• feed and support soil microbes
• build a healthier ecosystem below the surface
Everything is connected.
Healthy soil → healthy plants → stronger, more resilient flowers.
We don’t tend to have much pest pressure here, and I think a big part of that starts with focusing on the health of our soil and plants rather than treating problems after they show up.
I wanted to share this because cover cropping isn’t just for big farms. You can do it on a small scale, too—and even a little intentional soil building can make a big difference in the health of your plants and the ecosystem around them.
Have you experimented with cover crops in your garden?
SO LUSH 😍
Cover crop also provides some late season food for our pollinator friends!
And bonus: buckwheat makes an amazing filler flower!
Now comes the important part: termination. The goal is to knock the crop down while it’s still green and before it goes to seed, so all that plant material can break down and return to the soil instead of becoming a new crop I have to manage. I also cut off the irrigation to this section!
And because this is a tiny flower farm, we made our own crimper out of a 2x4.
This will die back and become a lovely mulch for my spring flowers!
