Keystone Winter Pea
The Keystone Winter Pea is a resilient and versatile cool-season legume, perfect for enriching soil and supporting healthy growth in your garden. Known for its robust cold tolerance, this winter pea thrives in low temperatures, providing lush, nutrient-rich forage for wildlife and livestock, as well as fixing nitrogen naturally in your soil. This winter pea variety serves as a fantastic cover crop, helping to prevent erosion and improve soil structure over winter.Pisum sativum subsp. arvense.
Treatment: Untreated
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Description
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Keystone Winter Pea is a cool-season cover crop that fixes significant amounts of nitrogen from the atmosphere. Once incorporated into the soil, that nitrogen will become available to the following vegetable planting. Winter peas are also great for erosion control and weed suppression. The dense foliage of the winter pea crop will reduce the amount of water runoff during heavy periods of precipitation. This will also reduce leaching and help to keep soil nutrients in place. The cover crop vegetation will provide dense ground cover which competes with any new weeds that might try to establish. Finally, Keystone Winter Pea helps to break pest and disease cycles to improve the health of future crops.
Keystone Winter Pea should be planted 4-6 weeks before the first frost in fall, giving the crop enough time to develop a solid ground cover before cool temperatures arrive. Winter peas are cold hardy down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit and can even withstand some moderate levels of snow cover. They may be planted with a broadcast spreader and covered with a harrow/rake, or they can be planted with a precision planter such as our Hoss Garden Seeder.
As with all cover crops, they should be cut or mowed before going to seed. This will prevent any issues with reseeding in the future. Winter peas will produce colorful flowers that will be white. Those flowers will be followed by green seed pods. In addition to mowing, winter peas are also great for livestock grazing. We suggest using chickens, goats or other livestock to remove the cover crop while adding valuable manure during the process.
Keystone Winter Pea is your ally for sustainable agriculture. Easy to plant and manage, it prepares your soil for a bountiful spring harvest while promoting eco-friendly farming practices. Choose Keystone Winter Pea for a greener, healthier, and more productive growing season ahead.
Key Features:
- Nitrogen Fixation: Enhances soil fertility by naturally adding nitrogen.
- Cold Tolerant: Thrives in lower temperatures, protecting your soil all winter long.
- Weed Suppression: Dense growth habit reduces weed competition.
- Soil Erosion Control: Protects against nutrient loss and soil degradation.
- Easy Cultivation: Simple to plant and requires minimal maintenance.
Keystone Winter Pea Planting Information:
Season: Cool
Planting Depth: .75" - 1.5"
Seeding Rate: 1.5 - 2 lbs per 1,000 sq. ft.
