Cover crops are a good practice to enhance soil life and soil quality. After late vegetables, like leek, the circumstances are not always good enough to sow cover crops. When the next main crop is planted late in the following year, it is possible to sow the cover crop in spring. In case study 8 we have sown a mixture of Phacelia (P. tanacetifolia) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) in the last week of march. These fast growing crops are ideal to cover the soil in early spring, to bring organic matter in the soil and the leguminous clover can supply some supplementary nitrogen. The rain of last weeks was good to keep the soil humid, because spring cover crops can evaporate many water from the soil. The cover crop is destroyed some weeks before planting the main crop, celery, to digest already a little so it will not obstruct the planting process.
