Description

Hairy Vetch is an exceptional, fast-growing cover crop that provides multiple benefits for your garden. Known for its nitrogen-fixing abilities, this hardy legume improves soil health and enhances the fertility of your soil, benefiting the next crop. Growing densely and quickly, it effectively smothers weeds while enriching the soil with nitrogen, particularly at the bloom stage. Hairy vetch also acts as a natural mulch, providing protection from erosion during the winter months, with its deep roots continuing to support soil organisms and improve soil structure. It is cold-tolerant, thrives in USDA zones 4 and warmer, and decomposes quickly, making it ideal for planting in rotation with other crops.

Botanical Name: Vicia villosa
Days to Maturity: 60 Days
Family: Fabacea
Native: Africa, Asia, and Europe
Hardiness: Frost-tolerant annual, winter hardy in USDA zones 4 and warmer
Plant Dimensions: 24″ tall; plants can reach 12' long
Variety Information: Hairy vetch is a sprawling legume with white to purple flowers, that is valuable for providing nitrogen to the soil. Some research shows that as a mulch, it can increase the subsequent crop's disease resistance.
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
Attributes: Cold Tolerant

When to Sow Outside: 4 to 6 weeks before your average first fall frost date for a crop the following spring. Can also be sown in early spring or summer. Will germinate slowly in soil as cool as 40°F, more ideally 60°–75°F.
When to Start Inside: Not applicable.
Days to Emerge: 10 – 15 Days
Seed Depth: ½”
Seed Spacing: Scatter seeds about 3″ apart
Thinning: Not Applicable

This packet sows approximately 60 square feet. 60 sq ft.