Time for this years cover crop
 

Well I pulled my garden today.Had a good year with my tomatoes even though we had a very dry summer.I turned everything over as I had straw mulch over the old part of my garden.I expanded my garden 6 feet out and 12 feet across.Now I have around 200sq.ft.I went to my local feed store and bought my cover crop.75% winter rye and 25% hariy vetch.I just need to get a friends tiller and make a few passes so I can can rake the seed in.Glad I have this done as I'm getting my other knee replacement 2 weeks from tomorrow.I had my right knee done Mach 18th of this year.Now I can get back to normal with my cycling and gardening next spring.;)

Carl,

No cottonseed meal this year? I pulled out a lot of my tomatoes due to a variety of reasons and got a couple of my garden boxes already planted in hairy vetch and started a third one Sunday. And the compost gets added to it weekly and I will have a large amount of water hyacinth from my pond biofilters to add to it as well. Always good to prepare for next year.

George

[QUOTE=cjp1953;593049]Well I pulled my garden today.Had a good year with my tomatoes even though we had a very dry summer.I turned everything over as I had straw mulch over the old part of my garden.I expanded my garden 6 feet out and 12 feet across.Now I have around 200sq.ft.I went to my local feed store and bought my cover crop.75% winter rye and 25% hariy vetch.I just need to get a friends tiller and make a few passes so I can can rake the seed in.Glad I have this done as I'm getting my other knee replacement 2 weeks from tomorrow.I had my right knee done Mach 18th of this year.Now I can get back to normal with my cycling and gardening next spring.;)[/QUOTE]

Good luck to you CJP! I'll be praying for you. I had my right hip done 2 Decembers ago and I am fully back in the garden. Amazing procedures!

I used up the cotton seed meal this spring.I'll have to get more come spring.I have been also using Garden Tone a couple times during the growing season.Only issue I had this year was my tomatoes all had cracked skins.I think that was due to the very dry weather we had.I heard many growers had that problem around this part of the state this summer.Thanks for the very kind thoughts,I also had a hip replaced in 2012.My knee was bone on bone,much more rehab with knee.But I'm pain free in the hip and right knee now.Modern surgery is truly amazing!:)

George,I'm sorry but I forgot to add that I had very good luck with your Orange 117 seeds you sent.Great flavor.I'll add a few plants again next year.Thank you again.

Great news and good luck on the surgery.
I cant imagine the pain it must be.

Thanks Worth,I'll be glad when this is over.

Good timing with the gardening season! May the second operation go as smoothly!

Thank you.:D

Well my friend's son was going to come over and make a pass with his tiller but never called.So I turned it over with my garden fork.It did not come out perfectly smooth but it will do.I hand tossed the seed as I always have done in the past.Should see the rye come up in as little as 48 hrs.Hairy Vetch comes up a little later.Watered well,so another season done.Glad it's over but I do enjoy hand turning it.My back will let me know that I'm 63 later tonight,lol.:yes::evil:

Checking the seeds today that I just tossed on the ground,and I see the little tails sprouting out of the rye seeds.Gave them a good watering today.Rye up in less than 48 hours!Amazing!
;)

How tall will the rye/hv get? Die out over winter? How much time between turning it under in spring and planting your tomatoes?

I don't know how well it will work, but our local ACE had 1/2 lb Southern States bean and pea seeds on clearance last winter. When I bought them for planting they were on clearance - then they dropped them to 10 cents. I bought more, gave some away to family and friends, and thought I would try them as a cover crop since they fix nitrogen, etc.

Winter rye(cereal) gets 3 or 4 feet but you cut it down around April and then it's only 6 or 8 inches tall.Adds mass to the soil,vetch adds nitrogen to the soil.Both will winter over and start growing when temps reach in the 40's.I just mow it down and plant into it.You also turn it under a few weeks before planting.

Look up what grows best in your part of the country.

Thanks CJP - I'll add this to my routine. The Virginia Coop Extension says both will grow well here as cover crops with winter rye being very hardy. I can wait till late October to plant it in the Tidewater area of VA.

Glad to be of any help.Rye has a great root system.Many farmers here grow it in the winter.That's how I found out about it over 10 years ago.We have a very big corn grower near by who plants all their fields with rye in the fall.
Good luck with your cover crop!:D

Rye is coming along fine.Vetch is just starting to show.Should get a half inch of rain today I think that will help the growth as temps are in the 60's.:yes:

[QUOTE=cjp1953;593552]....So I turned it over with my garden fork....[/QUOTE]

Is that the S&J fork? How is it holding up? I just pretzeled a new Craftsman, and am looking for an upgrade

[QUOTE=decherdt;595013]Is that the S&J fork? How is it holding up? [COLOR=Red]I just pretzeled a new Craftsman[/COLOR], and am looking for an upgrade[/QUOTE]

Probably said made in China on it too.
I would take the thing back and complain maybe they well take the hint or go broke.

Worth

Yes it is.I really like it,very strong.I keep it clean and rub it down with WD40 when I'm finished.I keep it in my basement.I bought it from Park Seeds.I had good service from that purchase.I know some others were not as happy with them.

I will not buy anything more from Sears,very poor service.I wanted to buy a jigsaw from them.I looked on their website and saw the one I wanted was on sale.I went to my local Sears and asked for that model.They would not sell it for the sale price.I was told to go home and order it.I told them I was going to Lowes and they just lost a sale.Guy was an A Hole.Have not been back since that happened a few years ago.

I had my surgery put off until Nov.18th due to a cap problem that had a cavity under it.Turned out another filling had a cavity.Short story,had it pulled and a bridge put in.Plus side was a bad infection could have set in on both knees so I was lucky to find this out now.Looking at my covercrop this morning and the rye is already 6 to 8 inches high.We have had warmer than normal temps and enough rain that it has grown very well.Even the vetch is coming along fine.If the spring is like most years I could have the rye over 1 to 2 feet high come mid april when I will mow it down.I think I'll plant the vetch 2 weeks before the rye next year as it grows more slowly and will vine up on the rye.This is a great combination for me.:)

Thanks for the update CJP. 2 years out from my hip replacement and I still have to take an antibiotic before a dental cleaning. I'll be pulling for your successful recovery in Nov.

Still need to get some rye. I stopped by one Southern States but they were out of the smaller bags. I have until late October so should be plenty of time.

I get vetch growing in spots where I get just a little bit careless with the seeds, Not so much the rye, I have to lay it on a bit thick, sow and rake, then sow and rake a second time to get good coverage. Just finished our two main sections, and waiting on our chile pepper row to play out to finish up.

[QUOTE=jtjmartin;596717]Thanks for the update CJP. 2 years out from my hip replacement and I still have to take an antibiotic before a dental cleaning. I'll be pulling for your successful recovery in Nov.

Still need to get some rye. I stopped by one Southern States but they were out of the smaller bags. I have until late October so should be plenty of time.[/QUOTE]
Had hip replacement in 2012.Will have to take antibiotics every time before any dental visits but they don't bother me.Thanks for the kind words,cant wait to get this behind me and rehab.Knee much harder to rehab than my hip.Thanks again!:D

[QUOTE=decherdt;596749]I get vetch growing in spots where I get just a little bit careless with the seeds, Not so much the rye, I have to lay it on a bit thick, sow and rake, then sow and rake a second time to get good coverage. Just finished our two main sections, and waiting on our chile pepper row to play out to finish up.[/QUOTE]

Vetch grows slow compared to rye in my garden and I had the vetch inoculated.I was told if you grow vetch in the same spot the next year it's not needed.I have the rye up in 48 hours.I just rake it in.This crop came up very fast as we had rain 3 days the first week planted.We're supposed to get over an inch of rain starting tonight and into tomorrow.Warm weather in the 70's this week has helped growth.It's 20 degrees warmer than normal.I'll take that any time in Oct.:yes:

OK. The winter rye is in and watered - very happy to add a new tool to my "tomato bag!"

I think you'll be happy with the results.You should see the rye come up in 48 to 72 hours.I just raked mine in.Good luck with your cover crop.:yes:

Saw an add on Burpee's Winter rye 1/4 pound for $4.99,covers 100 to 200 sq.ft.I buy mine at our local Hardware store for .79ct a pound.Wow and then you have s&h.Just thought I'd put that out for anyone who never planted a fall cover crop.:?!?:

Wow! $20/lb plus shipping. Southern States was 99 cents a pound here.