Cover Crops on Urban Farms

Jon Miller is a retired union representative for city workers who’s in his second career as an urban farmer in Detroit. Like a lot of growers, he’s excited about the possibilities of cover crops for regenerating soil and reducing his reliance on more cumbersome off-farm inputs, such as compost and fertilizer. However, as Miller says, “This whole field of cover crops doesn’t address urban farming,” and he’s had trouble delivering on the promise of cover crops on his farm.

Cover crops — also known as “green manures” — are plants that aren’t grown for harvest, but instead for a number of other benefits, including fixing nitrogen, controlling weeds, adding organic matter, attracting pollinators, and feeding soil organisms, which, along with plant roots, emit various substances that help bind soil particles together to build good structure. Miller’s primary attempt at using them in his own growing spaces — which are