[Aliska]

Buckwheat as a cover crop then plow it under before it flowers. A few years back I read 3 times. It recharges the soil.

It's from an organic gardening site; I didn't garden that way but borrowed ideas from them.

Recharge your soil by using buckwheat as a cover crop

The author of Pleasant Valley (somewhere in Ohio) experimented in rebuilding depleted soil on farms. I think he used grass and let horses or animals graze but I don't remember exactly what all he did; it probably was clay soil which is harder to deal with.

Sorry about your dad. It sounds tough on everyone.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Aliska:" Buckwheat as a cover crop then plow it under before it flowers. A few years back I read 3 times. It recharges the soil."

Yes it does , and it attracts deer , and maybe caribou too
But once the plant freezes, it becomes poisionous to deer , and the seed shatters .