Putting Your Soil to Bed: Fall Cover Crops & Winter Preparation 

With Yoko Takemura

As summer transitions into fall, the choices we make now can set the stage for healthier soils next season. Join NOFA/Mass and Yoko Takemura of Assawaga Farm for a community conversation on preparing your fields and gardens for winter through thoughtful soil stewardship. We’ll explore selecting and establishing cover crops, building organic matter and compost, mulching, and other practices that protect living soils, suppress weeds, and improve fertility through the colder months. Bring your questions and experiences as we discuss practical, seasonally appropriate strategies for putting your farm or garden “to bed” while investing in next year’s success.

Register in advance for this meeting:

Join NOFA/Mass for our monthly soil health calls, where we explore the on-farm processes and practices that shape resilient, thriving soils. Our facilitators will guide participants through practical strategies that influence soil integrity in organic systems. Each session offers space to ask questions, discuss specific methodologies, and learn directly from peers about what’s working on their farms.

Topics range from organic amendments, cover cropping systems, reduced tillage and compaction mitigation strategies, nutrient cycling, soil biology and microbial life, organic systems plans, and other stewardship practices designed to strengthen the long-term health and productivity of your farm.

Date: Every 3rd Wednesday of the month starting in March – September

Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

TOPP is a network assembled by the USDA’s National Organic Program to support transitioning and organic producers with mentorship and resources. Farmer-to-farmer mentorship, workshops, webinars, field days, technical assistance, and other educational events will offer opportunities to learn about organic production, the certification process, market opportunities, and more. Read more and sign up to be a mentor or transitioning farmer mentee at organictransition.org