Cereal rye
When we began our Fall City garden I realized that the soil really need organic matter so I researched what crop to plant for this purpose. After a field day with Washington State University Extension about cover crops and low-till framing I chose cereal rye, mainly because of its ability to generate lots of biomass (does it ever!).
I prepared the soil by weeding and by applying lime (ag lime plus dolomite lime in equal proportions). I also applied milky spore granules to address the hundreds of white grubs that had plagued my root crops during 2013. By mid-October I was ready to plant.
I knew I was running late. Though I planned to plant both rye and vetch, I realized the vetch wasn't germinating so the rest of the planting was only with rye. (This view is from the other end of the garden.)
By March of 2014 most of the rye was doing quite well, but those parts of the garden planted in late October were not (the section at the right).
By early April it was past time to plant peas and the rye wasn't anywhere near completion. I scythed a narrow band and prepared the soil for planting peas. And the rye continued to grow.
I wanted to get the peas planted (it was already late) so I started terminating the rye. I tilled a row for peas and left some of the rye strata as a mulch.
By the time I got to scything the rest of the rye it was mid-May and the rye was taller than I. At their tallest, some stalks were close to 7 feet tall.
So what to do with all that straw? I was learning that rye doesn't decompose quickly as some cover crops. So as I needed to plant a “cash” crop, I cleared the rye, put it in a pile and prepared for planting.
All that straw was too much to manage so I covered about 1,000 square feet with black plastic, hoping it would decompose in the dark.
I had some unplanted space so I cleared the straw and planted some buckwheat left over from last season.
Progress at the end of July, clearing rye into one large pile and preparing the soil for the next crop. The buckwheat is coming along well.
The buckwheat planted July 10 is about ready to be turn under. It's August 10.
