Hi, I found these instructions on an American website.
September
The first step toward high tomato yields is taken in early Septembe when you prepare permanent raised tomato beds. If you're trying thi method for the first time, use an inoculum to establish the proper soi bacteria. Seed the beds with hairy vetch, a winter-hardy legume that's becomin widely available. Do this about 2 months before winter freezeup Seedlings will emerge within 1 week. By the time that frost arrives plants will be 5 to 6 inches tall. Above ground, these skinny little vines will form a mat. Underground the root systems will all this time be growing into an extensiv network. Foliage and root systems will be working together, above an below ground, to hold the soil firmly and stop erosion. Below-freezing weather will cause the vetch vines to become dormant but never fear?Spring reinvigorates growth. Now that wasn't too tough. And the good news is, you won't have to d anything else until May.
May
By May, individual vines will be 4 or 5 feet long and form thick stand about 2 feet high. Now it's time to kill them. Yes, I said kill them! Determine your ideal tomato-planting time. The day before, go out an buy however many tomato seedlings you're prepared to cultivate. Then mow the vetch (a high-speed flail mower is recommended) and leav the residue in place on the beds. For the next several months, the dea vines are going to form a nutritious organic blanket that will snuggl up to your tomato plants (keeping out weeds) and gradually break dow into soil nutrients. Tomorrow you'll transplant young tomato plants right through the mulc residue and into the underlying soil. Moisture is vital, so you'll need to irrigate. Immediately afte planting, install trickle irrigation lines on top of the vetch and 3 t
4 inches from the tomato row. Fix them in place with U-shaped wires. Fertilizers? A good stand of vetch provides sufficient nitrogen to mee from half to all the nitrogen needed by tomatoes. As for phosphorus potassium, and essential micronutrients, it's best to have your soi tested?and supplement according to the soil's specific needs.June?and Beyond
During the first month after mowing, expect the vetch mulch to suppres weed emergence. After that, as the decomposition of the residu advances, weed seedlings are likely to emerge. One herbicidal application of 0.5 pound active ingredient of metribuzi per acre should do the trick, applied 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting (Your nursery professional can help compute the quantity needed fo small applications.) This application will also kill any regrowth fro the mowed vetch plants. By summer's end, your tomato plants will bear an abundance of fruit the organic mulch will decompose to a fare-thee-well, and the year wil have come full circle. Mow the old tomato plants and leave them in the field to decompose lik the vetch mulch.
Now it's time to reseed with... hairy vetch!
Has anyone tried it?
Does it work in the greenhouse as well as outdoors?
Where do you get Hairy Vetch ib the UK?
Would this cause a problem with Blight spore buildup?
I would appreciate any comments
Vivi
-- Vivie veg