in the dirt

Winter rye and fall garden update

Posted on by annabel
02
Nov

This year we are planting winter rye as our cover crop. Why rye, you ask? Well, let’s back up and talk about the importance of cover crops, in general. Planting a cover crop is a great way to add organic matter to soil. It also helps break up clay soils to help with drainage and you can till it all in next season a few weeks before you are ready to plant. Winter rye is supposed to be the best cover crop for fall planting and should thrive even in poor soils. OSU Extension is a great resource to learn more.

Here's a close-up of the winter rye we planted in some of our beds.
Some of the rows still producing sans season extenders. Picture taken 10/31/10.

0 thoughts on “Winter rye and fall garden update”

  1. Chris Cowen says:

    I planted winter rye… and my birds ate all but a few seeds… 🙂 Looks like you were a bit more successful.

    • Annabel says:

      We may have had a bit of the same challenge with birds. Our crop is pretty thin, but hoping it still does the trick. Good luck to you!