Trellis Community Vegetable Gardening Forum

Sharing our knowledge of vegetable gardening in the Snoqualmie Valley area

Phacelia tanacetifolia is a short season annual cover crop that has beautiful lavender/blue flowers that bees and beneficial insects love. Some sources say that it is a good Nitrogen and Calcium scavenger, which would be useful in the fall to hold onto those nutrients over winter. Other sources also say it benefits and conditions the soil structure in the top few inches. 

It is a Californina native plant but does fine in our cool wet climate. It is used as an orchard understory plant in vineyards and orchards. Like fava beans, it can be planted from very early spring to late summer here.

It germinates in cool soil so can be direct seeded in very early spring or even late winter. We've got a good start on volunteers already at the Learning Garden. It has a tap root, I've found that it transplants best when very small. Although it is so easy from seed that the only reason to transplant is to move volunteer seedlings.

Nash Huber of Nash's Organic Produce in Sequim loves phacelia for insect pest control.

http://nashsorganicproduce.com/about9Pests.html

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