Getting ready for cover crop.

[denny27]

Hey forum, just got some winter rye to plant this year. This will be my first time doing this.

A couple of questions are: 1) do I need to till up the soil beforehand or can I just turn it with spade and loosen?

2) Should I plant it where I plan on planting my potatoes next season?

3) Do I need to harvest the grain from it before I turn it under in the spring?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[CharlieBear]

If you are planting it as green manure crop (general cover crop) you will just turn it under in the spring. If you wait to harvest the grain, it will be too late to plant many things. If it is a cover crop, a spade should be fine and you can just broadcast the seed quite close together if you chose.
You can plant almost anything where you had the rye next spring as long as you turn it under first. Rye is in the grass family, not related to most things you might grow in the vegetable garden. Note, it is also possible that if you have one of those rare winters where the ground freezes and inch or so, it may kill the rye, that happens from time to time.

[denny27]

Thanks for the help Charlie. I am just using it for green manure. If it does freeze down an inch and dies, no big deal. I can't remember a winter that cold though.

I guess I'll just use a spade and broadcast it and see what happens.

[garden5]

Hmm, would it be such a bad thing if it froze? I mean, you could still turn it in anyway, couldn't you?