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  • From: Michael Peck <silverandsienna AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Planting Winter Rye & Vetch
  • Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:06:11 -0400

I'm in Zone 5b -10 to -15 F  South Central Michigan
Thanks for the tips!!!

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 10:58 AM, Road's End Farm <organic87 AT frontiernet.net> wrote:

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.


     
1- Is 2# / 1000sq ft  of 78% Rye, 22% Vetch adequate?  

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.


        
2- Do I need to water?

Probably not unless conditions are utterly parched.



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
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