Inoculent has to be fresh, and it has to be the right one for that legume. (It will say on the package.) Local sources I've used for inoculent include Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply and some of the local nurseries. Inoculent is light- and heat-sensitive, so needs to be applied to the seeds right before they're planted. Experts recommend using a natural "stickum," such as a bit of corn syrup dissolved in hot water (1 to 9 ratio) or 1 teaspoon of molasses in about 2/3 cup of whole milk, to help the inoculent adhere to the seeds. The planting bed also needs to be kept moist until germination, and watering should continue after germination until the rainy season begins.

Then write yourself a reminder to chop the crop down and dig it into your soil in late February or early March, just about the time we all start thinking about planting our summer veggies. It will be ready to enrich your tomatoes in three to six weeks.

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Add a cover crop in your cool-weather garden

Planting 'green manure' is an easy way to improve your soil over winter

I'm not going to get too far into the science on this, but basically a cover crop of legumes -- the peas and beans family -- will add nitrogen in soil that has been depleted by a food crop. You can also grow grasses, such as oats, wheat or ryegrass, to help break up the soil and control erosion. Legumes and grasses both can suppress weeds and add organic matter to the soil. "Soil builder" cover crop mixes usually include some varieties of each.

For home gardeners, the key to cover crops is to cut them down at the right time, in late winter or early spring, then work them into the soil. You have to allow enough time for "green manure" to break down in the soil before you can plant a new producing crop in that spot.

From my experience, for gardeners with small plots or raised beds, it's best to go with the legumes. These stay tender and are easy to cut down. (I grew oats one year and should have used a machete to whack them down; clippers were over-matched.) They also produce flowers that attract pollinators when not much else is blooming.

Examples of legumes to grow include field peas, also known as Austrian winter peas, shown in the photo above; bell beans; annual lupines, including some native varieties; crimson clover and red clover; and various varieties of vetch. Fava beans and garden peas both will produce an edible crop, a bonus, though you will wind up harvesting part of the nitrogen instead of using it to enrich the soil.

One important element to growing legumes: They do much, much better when the seeds are first treated with an inoculent. This is where some of the science comes in. The inoculent includes a specific bacteria that will create nodules on the plants' roots. These nodules are where the nitrogen from the atmosphere is "fixed."

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UCCE master gardeners fall planting gardening Sacramento green manure cover crop cool-weather vegetables Fair Oaks Horticulture Center inoculant legumes

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Garden checklist for week of Feb. 8

Dodge those raindrops and get things done! Your garden needs you.

* Start your spring (and summer) garden. Transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots. Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions. Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before they bloom. Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees soon after a rain. But remember: Oils need at least 24 hours to dry to be effective. Don’t spray during foggy weather or when rain is forecast.

* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.

* Remove aphids from blooming bulbs with a strong spray of water or insecticidal soap.

* Fertilize strawberries and asparagus.

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