Medicago sativa - Alfalfa

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a perennial legume known for its high nutritional value as forage for livestock. It is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and is also used as a green manure and cover crop to improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation. Alfalfa is also used in herbal medicine and as a dietary supplement for humans.

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 4¹
• Hardiness zone 5¹
• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Hardiness zone 10¹
• Hardiness zone 11¹
• Calcium
• Phosphate
• Potassium

Outputs

• Calcium
• Canavanine
• Carotene
• Fibre
• Fodder
• Green manure
• Hay
• Phosphate
• Phytoestrogens
• VitaminB
• VitaminC
• VitaminD
• VitaminE
• VitaminK
• Poultry forage²
• Green manure

Type

• Medicago spp. - Alfalfa
• Perennial

Functions

• Attracting bees
• Attracting beneficial insects
• Nitrogen fixer³
• Cover crop

Footnotes

1. Medicago sativa | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Table 7-3 ↩

3. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Table 6-3 ↩