hello, this is my first post - we have purchased a 3 acre home in Zone 6. This property is a blank slate, they have planted 1 very small garden (using only manure and it didn't look like it was started early enough and maybe an afterthought to sell the house like "here's the garden").
Anyway, the land is dry, mostly sage brush, and looked compacted. Nothing but a few trees are present on the property.
We are not going to be moving in until August and would like to spend the rest of the year getting areas set up for next year planting. My husband and I are gardening now but at a very small scale. We have been milling around ideas on what would be best for getting the soil ready organically. Lots of permaculture research and such, and we definitely are interested in no-till.
My question is about cover crop vs. layering. We are thinking some beds we will do some sheet mulching and experiment with that, but with so much area, we are curious about cover crops. If we broadcast cover seeds on land that has poor soil and no fertility, will they grow? or do we have to amend soil before planting cover? Like maybe till once? (Maybe a dumb question but we don't want to put down seeds if it will do nothing). My thoughts were to have cover crops that are winter hardy and we can get something going in the soil during those cold months, but this is new to me.
Also, the back end of the property will be used for pasture (goats) - should we just leave that area to be munched on? just lots of sage brush and dirt.
