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- From: Road's End Farm <organic87 AT frontiernet.net>
- To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch
- Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:58:29 -0400
On Sep 14, 2009, at 10:38 AM, Michael Peck wrote:
I am getting ready to plant my first field. The land has sat for a year with weeds. I have chosen Winter Rye and Hairy Vetch to winter kill; In spring- mow & turn under. The .61 acre has been fitted and is ready to plant.
What zone are you in? Winter rye and hairy vetch do not winterkill here (more or less zone 5), and in fact make almost all of their growth in the spring; in the fall, all they do is germinate and get their roots established, with very little biomass produced before winter. I use them for a winter cover crop ahead of crops that won't be planted till early June, but not ahead of crops to be planted earlier than that. Note that some seed won't germinate till the rye has well broken down -- I'm not sure which species are most susceptible to this.
You could till narrow strips in the cover crop early to plant your seed (and/or early transplanbts) in, and mow and till in the rest of the cover in late May or early June after it's had time to do some good; that might work.
I use 50 lb of rye and 30 lb of vetch per acre, broadcast and shallowly disced in. -- that's pretty close to 2 lb / 1000 square feet of total mix, but a higher percentage of vetch. I haven't tried your percentage, but it might work OK.
1- Is 2# / 1000sq ft of 78% Rye, 22% Vetch adequate?
Probably not unless conditions are utterly parched.
2- Do I need to water?
3- Should I rake the seed in.
I will be hand broadcasting. Some say just throw in on top. Most reading says to rake it in lightly.
I would rake it in (as I said above, I disc it in shallowly.)
-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale
-
[Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch,
Michael Peck, 09/14/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch, Ken Bezilla, 09/14/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch,
Richard Robinson, 09/14/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch, Michael Peck, 09/14/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch,
Road's End Farm, 09/14/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch, Michael Peck, 09/14/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch,
Rachel Evans, 09/14/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch,
Road's End Farm, 09/14/2009
-
[Market-farming] High tunnel and BTU Propane Heater,
jay sleichter, 09/14/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] High tunnel and BTU Propane Heater, MAsteveINE, 09/14/2009
-
[Market-farming] High tunnel and BTU Propane Heater,
jay sleichter, 09/14/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] cover crops,
Shawnee Flowerfarmer, 09/15/2009
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Re: [Market-farming] cover crops,
Richard Stewart, 09/15/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] cover crops,
Marc Winterburn, 09/17/2009
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Re: [Market-farming] cover crops/Marc's question,
Shawnee Flowerfarmer, 09/18/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] cover crops/Marc's question, Marc Winterburn, 09/20/2009
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Re: [Market-farming] cover crops/Marc's question,
Shawnee Flowerfarmer, 09/18/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] cover crops,
Marc Winterburn, 09/17/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] cover crops,
Richard Stewart, 09/15/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch,
Road's End Farm, 09/14/2009
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