Hairy Vetch

HAIRY VETCH
Hairy vetch is used as a winter cover crop to improve the soil's structure and nitrogen content when tilled in or turned over in the spring.

hairy tare, hairy vetch, tare vetch, tiny vetch
Family
Fabaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory)Fabaceae: sub-family Faboideae (New South Wales)Leguminosae (South Australia)Papilionaceae (Western Australia) ...

hirsutum (Hairy Vetchling) - P. maritimum (Seaside Pea) - P. sativum (Alverja) - P. sativum sativum (Petit Pois Sucr‚s) - P. sativum var. macrocarpon (Edible-Podded Pea) - P. sativum var. macrocarpon 'Blizzard' (Oriental Pea) - P. sativum var.

hairy vetch Vicia villosa
hairy willowherb Epilobium hirsutum
hardheads Acroptilon repens
Harding grass Phalaris aquatica
ha'uowi; oi; owi Verbena litoralis
hawksbeard Crepis tectorum
hawkweed ox-tongue Picris hieracioides ...

The hairy vetch (V. villosa), used almost as widely, is a hardy biennial with narrower, silvery leaves and blue flowers.

Nitrogen and mineral content in the cover crop are highest just before maturity and should be plowed under then. Hairy vetch, for example, a good cover crop for the home gardener because it is a winter annual and a good soil builder, ...

Known hazards: None known, but some vetches are poisonous to humans and livestock, containing cyanogenic glycosides (e.g. common vetch Vicia sativa), or the amino acid canavanine (e.g. hairy vetch Vicia villosa).

See also: Sweet Corn, Artichokes, Vetch, Sunflower, Ginger