"UPPER MARLBORO, Maryland - The owner of Deep Roots Farm in rural Maryland and her workers finished the fall harvest last month, but some of their most vital plantings are still in the ground - and growing fast.
Four species of cover crops - plants such as winter rye and hairy vetch, later removed in the spring - are key to soil resuscitation efforts underway at Deep Roots, 53 acres of rolling hills that used to be part of a tobacco farm.
After purchasing the property two years ago, owner Gale Livingstone set about rebuilding the soil's health, by nurturing the microbiome beneath, planting cover crops, and doing no tilling at all.
The changes mean "you're going to have an abundance of harvest," the 49-year-old said."
Carey L. Biron reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation December 12, 2022.
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