Interseeded cover crops: Evaluating the integration of weed management and soil health practices in artichoke production in California central coast

Commodities

• Vegetables: artichokes

Practices

• Crop Production: cover crops
• Education and Training: demonstration
• Pest Management: mulches - living

Artichokes are a high-value crop with historical significance in the Central Coast region of San Mateo County. This region is the perfect climate for artichokes: long, mild summers and cool, wet winters with no frost. Artichokes have been produced here since at least 1940 when there were over 2300 acres making it the second highest acreage crop. Though the acreage dropped over the decades, with much more production moving to Monterey county, there are still many smaller scale organic farms that include artichokes in their cropping systems. Among the reasons for the decline is the increased difficulty of managing weed pressure on this semi-perennial crop without the use of herbicides, especially in an organic system. Other aspects of this crop make it an excellent candidate to experiment with interseeding cover crops to reduce weed pressure, improve multiple aspects of soil health (organic matter, nitrogen, erosion, and water retention), to increase biodiversity, and reduce pest pressure.

At Brisa Ranch, we grow approximately one acre of artichokes, have good production, and are interested in increasing acreage due to market demand. We will experiment with different treatments including interseeded annual cover crop mix, a perennial cover crop mix, and as a control, no interseeded cover crop to determine how to meet our goals most efficiently. By incorporating cover crop interseeding into artichoke production, we can increase the viability of producing the crop organically in the region and provide an example to other farms to experiment with similar sustainable methods. We look forward to learning how to manage these combined systems and consider how this technique might be applied to other cropping systems, both annual and perennial.

We will share the research and findings with growers and agriculture supporting entities via videos on social media platforms, and during a field day in 2027.

Research Objectives:

1. Compare control treatment of mowing weeds to cover cropped treatments in terms of ease of management and cost-effectiveness through evaluating time/labor, input costs, and yields.
2. Compare weed presence and density across treatments to assess their weed management effectiveness.
3. Monitor soil moisture across treatments to consider how cover cropping impacts water movement in the soil compared with the mowed weed control.
4. Assess soil health impacts between the three treatments through Ward Labs' Soil Health Assessment Testing (addressing physical, chemical, and biological characteristics)
5. Provide a production-scale demonstration of cover crop interseeding for farmers and other stakeholders through a field day and videos.

Educational Objectives

1. To encourage more farmers to experiment with increasing year round soil coverage through cover cropping either via living mulches or interseeding methods.
2. To show how interseeded cover crops or green mulches can be utilized in perennial crop systems - and encourage the exploration of using them in other cropping systems.
3. To provide an example of a more sustainable and organic artichoke cropping system that will increase excitement in the region around growing more artichokes (farmers) and buying more artichokes (buyers).