A colourful set-aside. View across a so-called set-aside, an uncultivated area of ground where wild flowers are allowed to grow, beside a field of ripening wheat. See also <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Generous_nature_strip_beside_wheat_crop_-_geograph.org.uk_-_905816.jpg" title="File:Generous nature strip beside wheat crop - geograph.org.uk - 905816.jpg">905816</a>. The blue flowers are Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), native to the arid southwest region of the USA and Mexico.  It is a versatile plant that has been introduced to Europe, where it is extensively used both as a cover crop and as bee forage.  In agriculture, phacelia is often used as so-called green manure crop.  Green manure crops are sown and allowed to grow until the land is needed again or until the plants have reached a certain growth stage. They are then cut down and ploughed into the soil. Left to decompose, they release vital plant nutrients back into the soil, hence fertilizing it.  Phacelia is also used as an intercrop with corn and sugar beet or as an undercrop in orchards. – For more information on green manure see <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/green.htm">http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/green.htm</a>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/14840">Evelyn Simak</a>
CC BY-SA 2.0
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