What it is
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is in the Fabaceae (Legume) family. A deep-rooted perennial legume that mines subsoil minerals and fixes heavy nitrogen. Classic soil-improver.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it low — deep taproot, and give it deep, well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.5–7.5. Space plants about Broadcast apart. Expect roughly Soil builder. Perennial.
How it's used
Alfalfa is used: cover/forage; sprouts edible.
🔎 How to identify it
- Three small leaflets
- Purple flower clusters
- Very deep taproot
Edibility
How to grow & propagate alfalfa
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate alfalfa
Legumes resent transplanting — that taproot wants to go straight down — so sow them right where they'll grow once the soil has warmed. Soak hard-coated seed overnight to speed germination. As a bonus, this whole family pulls nitrogen out of the air and banks it in the soil, so wherever you grow them you're feeding next season's crop.
Growing alfalfa in Texas
Give it full sun and deep, well-drained soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
Keep moisture even, especially while it's young — deep, less-frequent soaks build better roots than a daily sprinkle.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly soil builder before you're harvesting. The part you're after: sprouts; forage.
Making more for free
If you want more, let your healthiest plants mature fully and collect the seed once it's dry on the plant — then store it somewhere cool, dark, and dry until next season.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.