The growing season in Alaska is short, and our spring and fall weather can be unpredictable. Whether you’re growing from starts or from seed, our climate makes it difficult to use all your garden space all the time.

Starting a crop too early or too late can mean a lost harvest and hours of lost effort. And some years you may not have the time or energy to plant something in every garden bed, and you may choose to let some or all of your space lay fallow for a season.

But what if I told you that there was something you could do to improve your soil health during the shoulder season with minimal effort?

Cover crops are a low-effort way to increase your soil health at times when you don’t want to be growing crops for harvest. You can plant a cover crop by scattering seeds on the ground, and when it’s time to plant your lettuce, for example, you can cut down your cover crop before it fully matures and leave its residue on the surface of the soil. Alternatively, if you choose to plant your cover crops in the fall, the first frost will terminate any annual cover crops and the plant matter will decompose over the winter, leaving nutrients ready for your spring plants to absorb.

This way, your cover crop doesn’t just improve your soil’s health when it’s alive; it continues to protect your soil — and your crops — even after it’s done growing.

The benefits of cover cropping go beyond protecting your soil’s surface. While one of the main advantages of cover cropping is that covering your soil prevents wind and water erosion, living plant roots also hold your soil in place and help it form aggregates, or clumps, that improve your soil’s ability to manage moisture and store carbon.

Growing cover crops can also help reduce weed pressure. Bare soil is great habitat for weeds, so cover crops, especially ones that have weed suppression properties, will compete for nutrient and sunlight and prevent a total weed takeover in your garden beds.

Finally, growing a variety of plants is healthy for your soil in the same way eating a variety of foods is healthy for humans and our gut microbiome. The more diverse your garden is, the healthier your soil microbiome will be.

Some common cover crops grown in Alaska include grains like barley, buckwheat, triticale, rye and oats. These plants suppress weeds because they grow fast and crowd out weeds, and rye is especially good for poor quality, sandy or acidic soils. Other commonly used cover crops include legumes, such as field peas and red clover. Legumes are known for their ability to “fix” nitrogen from the atmosphere into plant-available forms. We recommend planting a mixture of grains and legumes to maximize nutrient benefits for your plants.

For more information about cover crops (which varieties to plant, how to terminate, how and when to plant), please reach out to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Homer office at 907-235-8177, ext. 3, or the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District at 907-235-8177, ext. 111.

Emily MacDonald is a soil conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service Homer Field Office. The Conservation Corner is monthly column with the USDA-NRCS Homer Office.