Annually, the Urban Soil Health Program distributes 3,000 cover crop seed packets to farmers, backyard growers, and community gardens via outreach events and via our partnerships with Local Working Groups. These packets are a great tool to get people interested in cover crops to try them in an approachable way.
Click on each species below to learn how to plant the cover crop seed packages. Planting information is compiled by Urban Soil Health, local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Midwest Cover Crop Council, and the Indiana Natural Resources Conservation Service.
For more technical information and “how-to”s on cover crops and other soil health practices, visit our Resources page.
Dig in on cover crops
10,500+ packets
Given out to date to farmers, backyard growers, community gardens, farmer’s market goers and small-scale producers we do site visits. We get folks to have fun and experiment with cover crops. Notice the benefits. Understand the management considerations.
Contact your USH Specialist to get your hands on a packet of seeds to try.
2,100,000 square feet!
Ok, we’ll do the math for you. That’s 50 acres of cover crop seed we’ve handed out. While it doesn’t sound like a whole lot, the qualitative impact is bigger than the acreage. We’ve gotten people interested in cover crops that thought it was only possible for large-scale farmers. They tried ’em, loved ’em, and now understand the importance of this practice to improve soil function, infiltrate water, build organic matter, grow mulch, and more. We spread a big message with small seeds.
Are you a SWCD interested in ordering your own cover crops seeds for giveaways? Our seeds all come from Byron Seeds in Rockville, IN.
Would you like to use our templates? Below are the templates created on Canva for you to use and personalize to fit your needs!