michaelD
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HOW DO I SURVIVE THIS WINTER COVER CROP?

Although I've been a successful vege gardener all my life, this past winter was the first time I followed the incessant advocacy for a winter cover crop. I planted a beautiful, healthy crop of rye.

Problem is that the rye appears to have too successful and too healthy! It created huge root systems and a very heavy, hearty thick sod. I mowed and tilled it, which was a real challenge; it was like breaking into a long- established lawn of thick crabgrass! I keep tilling it, but it is not dissipating away. With all these healthy roots, I expect most of it will continue to grow.

What am to do with it? Do I just plant my veges among all this heavy thatch and thriving root balls? To rake them out would defeat the purpose of the winter crop a well as be an enormous labor task.

Your advice and experience will be appreciated.

Charlie MV
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Don't mean to ask a dumb question but I've never let that stop me,

Did you plant winter annual rye?

If so, it will go away when the heat gets here. My winter rye is usually gone by this time of year but we still have some. It's been cooler than usual this spring especially at night. I would guess it just hasn't gotten hot enough where you are.

Regarding your question. We plant in late March while the rye is going nuts. I til and plant my crop. The rye comes back until the heat comes. We do have sandy soil and it is always easy tilling. If I were you, I'd till twice, rake and plant. Works for me.

michaelD
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Thanks for your feedback, Charlie. You said something about "raking". Do you try to rake out much or most of that rye thatch? Isn't a main reason for planting the cover crop, in the first place, to put decaying organic material into the soil? If we rake it all out aren't we defeating our purpose? Just wondering. Thanks again.

Charlie MV
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We just rake to smooth. No way to get all the grass and thatch out.

tomc
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When I had enough season to plant rye I liked annual rye better. It died back and simply turning over browned sod over put it away well enough for me to plant the next spring.

T'other (perrenial?) takes two goes with a potato fork to put it away. One to flip over the green sod. And a second a week or so later to turn under the bits that survived a first turning.

In NH I just about didn't have enough growing season to devote 4+ weeks to a cover crop. I had to give it up.

It does make one heck of an addition of OM for a garden. "If only there was enough time", for me.

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rootsy
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I just turn it under with the plow in the spring...

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farmerlon
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Here's something I have observed, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had the same experience? ...
It seems to me that Annual Ryegrass is actually perennial when you get far enough to the south.

One of the first gardening books that I read, suggested Annual Ryegrass as a cover crop, and indicated that it would die off during the Winter. The author of that book was based in Vermont.
Whenever I plant annual ryegrass here in Tennessee, it over-winters (stays alive and green through the winter) and then explodes with new growth in the early Spring.
I don't have a problem with that; the lack of die-off has not caused me any issues in the garden. I'm just curious if others have observed that perennial habit (of Annual Ryegrass) in the South?

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quiltbea
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I know your pain.
I tried winter rye last fall in 5 of my raised beds.
When the 2 feet of snow finally melted, I had a stand of rich, thick green grass all over those 5 raised beds.
This spring I tried hacking it with a hoe to pull it up and turn it over. I don't have a tiller for my raised beds. I do it all by hand.
The idea is for the roots to make tunnels in the soil to help oxygen and nutrients move easily thru the soil and breakdown and promote healthy soil in the bargain. The grass on the top is another matter.

I was told to cut the rye grass down to soil level and allow the grass to die on top. That was impossible to do so I just do the best I can and move the sods around from one square to another when planting and burying the roots portions in the soil when I'm adding my composted manure to the holes before planting my seedlings or sowing a square of seeds. I'm trying to leave the grasses on top to dry out and die back so they, too, can eventually be buried in the soil.

I understand that brown matter under the soil doesn't soak up nutrients away from crops but green matter does so the grass must be dried and brown before I can bury it back in the soil.

Next time I'll plant an annual crop, like clover. It dies over winters in Maine. In the meantime, I continue to play musical chairs with the sods.

Charlie MV
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My annual rye is gone by the first of June. We are in SC. It's usually unbearably hot by now but as I mentioned, we actually had a spring time this year. We usually go fron the 40s to the 90s in a week.

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farmerlon
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I think all this "rye" gets confusing; or maybe it's just me. :D
Perennial Ryegrass (lolium) is common in lawns and pastures, and is a nutritious forage crop.

Annual Ryegrass is 'lolium multiflorum'. The following info that I found online at Ryegrasscovercrop.com answered the question that I had earlier..."Cold Tolerance: Annual ryegrass is a cool-season annual grass that - with good snow cover - possesses good cold tolerance.... It will germinate in cooler soils than most other cover crops.
Geographic Range:... While annual ryegrass can be found throughout the US, it has much greater persistence in temperate climates. It is used in the south to fill in during winter months for other grasses that thrive only in summer months. In central and northern states, annual ryegrass is a popular cover crop, wintering over well especially when snow cover can protect the plant from excessive temperature fluctuations.

Rye (Secale cereale) is grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop, closely related to barley and wheat.

Wikipedia states... "Winter rye is any breed of rye (Secale cereale, grain) planted in the fall to provide ground cover for the winter."

That info helped me sort out the "ryes". :D

Artemesia
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Rye tends to want to stay alive until it fully blooms.

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quiltbea
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I managed to get most of it cut and the roots buried each time I sow a square or plant a seedling. I do Square Foot Gardening.
The greens have been on the top of the soil while not in use but when I need the square, I clip the grass tops of the clods to add to the mulch pile and bury the rooty clod back in the soil before adding a scoop of compost and then planting whatever.
It seems to be working OK.

I won't be sowing winter rye anytime again soon. If I do any green manure crop at all, it will be one that dies in the winter so I don't have this half a nightmare once again.

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farmerlon
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quiltbea wrote:...I won't be sowing winter rye anytime again soon. If I do any green manure crop at all, it will be one that dies in the winter so I don't have this half a nightmare once again.
You might like Buckwheat for a cover crop.
It typically germinates guickly, provides excellent weed control, and adds a good amount of organic matter when turned under. The roots are very "light"... the plants can be easily pulled out of the ground, and then you can plant something else the same day! (no fighting with a thick mat of roots like some grasses and clovers)
Also, Buckwheat is not at all hardy, and will die with the first frost.

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quiltbea
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farmerlon....
Thank you. That sounds like a winner to me. If I go the green cover crop route again, I'll remember that.
I think I'll pass this fall. I'll just add compost and leaves this fall. The worms love to feed on the leaves all winter and make castings.

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applestar
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Oats have worked well for me. I like using hulless oats just so I have plenty even though the cover crop dies over winter, then I plant some to grow out next spring. Have not yet been able to have an actual "harvest" -- I.e. For the pantry -- but I enjoyed snacking on them in milk-stage and collecting seed grains. My goal is to eventually actually grow and harvest enough for making oatmeal. 8)

I'm still experimenting with other cover crop options. I always use buckwheat in the warm months though. Very easy to deal with as the stems are hollow.

Artemesia
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I often use oats or barley since they will freeze back once you get a hard freeze. In the south that might be a problem because it may not get cold enough. I also use cold hearty flowers because they will live all winter unless there is no snow. They are easy to kill by mowing and tilling. Such as: sweet alyssum, calendula, cornflower, foxglove, larkspur, pansy, stocks, viola, or dianthus



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