Rye thrives…
After enduring a pretty wintry two months, the fall rye can only be described as lush and green, the highlight of today’s brief walk around the field. It hasn’t grown much since late November, but it’s alive and kicking. Here, a light dusting of snow has melted as the sun pops in and out. The cover crop experiment continues…
Germination from the broadcast seeding wasn’t too even, but it filled out quite well!
Tags: cover crop, experiments, rye
Somewhat related posts: • Checking on rye • Trying fall rye • Rye arrives! • All clear… • Crops for Fall
Somewhat related posts: • Checking on rye • Trying fall rye • Rye arrives! • All clear… • Crops for Fall
Meg said,
January 14, 2008 @ 10:11 am
That looks awesome. We want to start our own cover crop experiment next year mainly because of the benefits to the soil, but also because it just looks so darn nice! What a nice contrast to the gray and brown dreck that is typical at this time of year.
VP said,
January 15, 2008 @ 10:57 am
That looks very lush and verdant! Is cover crop your term for what we call green manure here - i.e. an interim crop to supress weeds that can then be dug in to increase soil fertility?
Mike (tfb) said,
January 15, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
VP: Well, definitions vary depending on where you look, but in general, green manure is a type of cover crop. Depends on the intention. A cover crop could be mainly intended to prevent soil erosion and suppress weeds on an open area. A green manure would be sown primarily to improve the soil, maybe a nitrogen-fixing “manure-replacement” like alfalfa or clover, or just something to add a good bulk of organic matter. I’d call this fall rye a green manure cover crop… As long as the meaning’s clear, I guess it’s all just a choice of words! :)