Protect Your Soil by Growing Winter Field Peas and Beans

, written by Benedict Vanheems gb flag

Using forage peas as a winter cover crop

As summer turns to fall and bare patches of ground begin to pop up all over the plot we're left with two options: plant and sow more for winter and the spring that follows, or do something with the newly exposed soil to keep it in good heart. A well-planned kitchen garden will of course maximize the use of space to produce the highest possible yield of fruits and vegetables. Inevitably, however, there will be fallow periods when the ground simply isn't in use; winter's when this is most likely to be the case.

Keep Soil Covered to Keep it Healthy

It is important to remember that soil isn't just an inert material in which we grow our plants. Living within each square foot of ground are literally billions of microscopic organisms, and the majority of these inhabit its top few inches. This living soup of bacteria and fungi is joined by a host of worms, beetles and other creatures that work in harmony to keep the soil in fine form and its nutrients readily available to your plants' roots.

Leave the soil completely bare over winter and you'll starve its occupants. The result is less-than-optimal growth the following growing season – something no-one wants! The solution, of course, is to cover it up with plenty of organic matter that will break down slowly over winter to nourish the soil and its inhabitants. Another solution is to grow a green manure, or cover crop, which will protect this fragile subterranean ecosystem and provide material on site to either dig in or chop down and leave on the soil surface as a mulch by spring.

With warmer weather waning, your choice of green manures is limited. Thankfully the best plants to grow for this purpose are among the most powerful in their soil-nurturing benefits. Field peas and beans won't just cover the soil up but will act as a shot in the arm for nitrogen levels while contributing plenty of roughage for soil structure.

Wonderful Legumes

Peas and beans are both legumes, a family of plants that also includes the green manures of clover and lupins. These wondrous plants can fix nitrogen into the soil thanks to a canny relationship with rhizobia (one of the soil's many bacteria) that form nodules on the plants' roots to secure nitrogen that those plants can then readily absorb. By cutting your peas and beans down before they flower in spring this extra nitrogen will be made available for future crops to encourage healthy leaf growth.

Field bean seeds

Field peas or beans sown in autumn will also limit the effect of rain on otherwise bare soil, which can create a hardened pan on the surface or, worse still, wash out nutrients. By competing against weeds during any warm spell they will maintain a 'clean' soil for spring's crop sowings. Field beans have the added benefit of helping to break up heavier soils courtesy of their extensive root system.

How to Grow Winter Field Peas and Beans

The nature of a green manure means you will want as much cover as possible, which means a very high rate of germination. Soil preparation is therefore as important as for any other crop. Sow the seeds as per the seed packet instructions – usually 5-10cm (2-4in) apart in rows spaced 20cm (8in) distant. In a temperate climate you can sow right up until mid-fall, giving you plenty of time to follow on from late finishers.

Your green manure needs to be dug in at least two weeks before a new crop is sown in order to give all that organic matter time to start rotting down. You can speed this process up by chopping up the stems into as small pieces as you can manage – a sharp edge to a spade combined with a stabbing action helps with this. Pick a day when you've plenty of frustrations that need working out!

Field bean seedling

Always cut your field peas and beans down while the growth is relatively soft and certainly before they start flowering. Flower and pod formation rapidly uses up most of the nitrogen that's been diligently locked up by those rhizobia, so while it's tempting to let them grow on, you'll lose a lot of the benefit. Needless to say, avoid following on with more crops in the pea and bean family; nitrogen-hungry leafy crops such as cabbage are best placed for this.

Field peas and beans are incredibly generous green manures, providing a very cost-effective means of giving your soil a boost while maintaining its modesty over winter. Give your kitchen garden a little extra love this autumn and see what a difference it makes.

By Benedict Vanheems.

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Comments

 
"If you intend to put down Volcanic Rock Dust and lime over autumn/winter can you still put down Winter Field Beans Please?"
Susan Jamieson on Friday 19 September 2014
"Excellent article! I can now really envisage what's going on in the soil and definitely now 'get' the reasons for using a green manure over winter (-especially Field Beans). I am JUST about to plan my very first veg garden so I'm glad I read this. And I will certainly incorporate some over winter field beans into my planting plan now. But my only (and probably very dumb) question is... You say not to plant anything from the pea or bean family afterwards, so how will this fit into a three or four year plot rotation? I mean, if planting Field Beans as a green manure over Winter on a plot, how many Summers before it would be safe again to grow, say, some nice runner beans in that spot? Would it be a really bad idea to put a crop of runner beans in over the Summer before the Winter Field Beans? Sorry for my beginner's confusion! Thank you :)"
Clair Butter Bean Fingers on Saturday 20 September 2014
"Hi Susan. Yes, I wouldn't see why that would be a problem. The rock dust is full of trace elements, but isn't a fertiliser per se, so the addition of beans will help to boost nitrogen levels, which the rock dust will not be able to contribute. The lime should raise soil pH slightly. The beans shouldn't impact on this."
Benedict Vanheems on Saturday 20 September 2014
"Hi Clair. The reason for not following on with more beans is to avoid a build up of disease. They need to be incorporated into a typical crop rotation. I would leave it at least a full year and preferably two years before planting members of the bean family. That said, you could try planting runner beans BEFORE the green manure then give the soil a 'rest' from beans for the two years that follow."
Benedict Vanheems on Saturday 20 September 2014
"Thank you Benedict for answering my question and clearing that up for me! :)"
Clair Butter Bean Fingers on Saturday 3 January 2015
"I have read a few good stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much attempt you set to create this kind of wonderful informative website."
Flockhart on Friday 19 June 2015
"Great article. I will definitely try it if I can find some seeds."
Jenny taylor on Sunday 11 October 2015
"Hi, I presume any type of bean and pea would be ok....provided whatever comes up is cut down before flowering? "
Clive on Saturday 19 March 2016
"Hi Clive. In theory, yes, but field beans and peas sold specifically as a green manure will work best as they will offer the best soil coverage. But there's certainly no harm in sowing other peas and beans if you have seed that needs using up - it's just these types of seeds will be far more expensive than green manure/cover crop seed."
Ben Vanheems on Monday 21 March 2016
"Thanks for the article! I planted a mix of snow peas and snap peas a bit too late in the season; thought the plants grew to height, the frost killed every flower that the plants tried to make. It's December, and the plants are still right there. My question is, if I leave the plants in the soil, is there a chance that they will rebloom/produce in the spring? I'm in Zone 7, so the winters aren't too rough here. Thanks!"
Daniel on Monday 4 December 2017
"Hi Daniel. Yes, I'd say there is a chance that the plants might re-bloom in spring to produce some pods. However, the worst of the winter is still to come and there's a reasonable chance they will be killed off. But I guess there's no harm in leaving the plants in the ground and seeing what happens! You could pop a row cover over the plants during the coldest weather."
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 5 December 2017
"Hello Benedict sorry for not acknowledging your reply to my previous comment sooner Tuesday I’ve only just seen it. Knowing I can use winter beans as well as the rock dust at the same time is very helpful as I find the overwintering options very confusing. Following the article on leaf mulching I have decided to put manure on the beds which had last years peas/beans to ready them for the potatoes. Then put lime on all the other beds and cover with leaf mulch to be dug in the spring then put the rock dust prior to planting. Thanks again. Susan "
Susan Jamieson on Tuesday 5 December 2017
"Hello Benedict sorry for not acknowledging your reply to my previous comment sooner Tuesday I’ve only just seen it. Knowing I can use winter beans as well as the rock dust at the same time is very helpful as I find the overwintering options very confusing. Following the article on leaf mulching I have decided to put manure on the beds which had last years peas/beans to ready them for the potatoes. Then put lime on all the other beds and cover with leaf mulch to be dug in the spring then put the rock dust prior to planting. Thanks again. Susan "
Susan Jamieson on Tuesday 5 December 2017
"Hello Benedict sorry for not acknowledging your reply to my previous comment sooner Tuesday I’ve only just seen it. Knowing I can use winter beans as well as the rock dust at the same time is very helpful as I find the overwintering options very confusing. Following the article on leaf mulching I have decided to put manure on the beds which had last years peas/beans to ready them for the potatoes. Then put lime on all the other beds and cover with leaf mulch to be dug in the spring then put the rock dust prior to planting. Thanks again. Susan "
Susan Jamieson on Tuesday 5 December 2017
"Hi Susan. That's brilliant - thanks for the update. Sounds like you've got a good routine going there."
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 5 December 2017
"So can I use the beans/peas in flowerbeds as well? I'm changing part of my lawn to a native flowerbed/meadow (like 100 square feet or more) for next year. As soon as we don't have 90F days anymore, I wanted to start getting rid of the sod/weeds/grass and was wondering what to cover the area to avoid spreading the other weeds of my lawn (it's not turf, it's one weed next to another). Beans/peas would be good for the poor clay soil I'm dealing with wouldn't they?! Thank you!"
Katharina on Wednesday 21 August 2019
"Hi Katharina. Yes, winter field peas and beans would likely work well. But possibly a better alternative is to try and exhaust any lurking weeds by covering the ground with layers of cardboard or similar until you are ready to sow/plant. This will help to promote a cleaner, weed-free soil that’s then ready to plant into. Generally native plants, particularly meadows, do not need much or anything in the way of extra fertiliser, as they will grow in the natural conditions of the local soil and climate."
Ben Vanheems on Thursday 22 August 2019
"I'm growing broad beans as green manure. They have been growing OK but some plants are getting brown patches on the leaves. Can I still dig these into the soil or do I need to get rid of the plants entirely? If so, do I need to dig up the roots too? Natalie."
Natalie on Monday 8 May 2023
"It would be fine to dig these in as planned, but I would avoid growing beans in that patch of ground next year, just to be on the safe side."
Ben Vanheems on Wednesday 10 May 2023
"Hi Ben, I'm a couple of hours north of Sydney, Australia and autumn-planting broad beans as green manure. I planted them mid-autumn. It's six days until winter starts and one of the plants has produced a first flower (plant around 25cm tall). Most of the ~24 plants range between 20-30 cm, with a few stragglers 10-15. The stems and leaves look super healthy but when I checked the one that flowered there were no nodules on the roots, which otherwise looked quite healthy. Do they show up by this time or am I likely not to have any of the required bacteria in the soil? Should I just chop and dig them all in now or see if they will grow bigger over winter so I have more to dig in? I will dig in the one that flowered. We have had a lovely sunny autumn and don't get frost at all here. Thanks, Natalie"
Natalie on Friday 26 May 2023
"ADDENDUM to post earlier today: we've just had a huge hail storm so they're all battered and bruised and going to be dug in right after the rain stops!"
Natalie on Friday 26 May 2023
"Hi Natalie. Glad the weather took the decision out of your hands! If you hadn't have had the hail storm I would have been tempted to just let them grow on up to the point of flowering before cutting them down and leaving them over the winter to decompose. But the hail's taken care of all that for you!"
Ben Vanheems on Friday 26 May 2023

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