should I mow?

[Worth1]

Is this annual rye or perennial rye grass?
One or the other I sure as heck wouldn't till it in.
The roots broke up the soil for you and the worms will come up and bring the dead plant matter into the soil.
Tomato roots can go through some pretty hard soil anyway.
They dont need loose potting soil to grow in.
Worth

[creister]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Is this annual rye or perennial rye grass?
One or the other I sure as heck wouldn't till it in.
The roots broke up the soil for you and the worms will come up and bring the dead plant matter into the soil.
Tomato roots can go through some pretty hard soil anyway.
They dont need loose potting soil to grow in.
Worth

I agree with just chopping it down and letting it lay. I have have cover cropped for several years, and have never tilled it in. A few things you may want to consider:

1.). Use a string line trimmer (weed eater) if you have one, you can cut it lower to the soil line.

2.). Rake back all the trimmings and spread your compost, then cover with the grass clippings. If you can, cover with mulch of shredded leaves or shredded tree trimming.

3.). I read somewhere to wait until the rye has seed heads on it before you cut it. Theory is that you will get the most biomass of roots and leaves etc. this way.

4.). Next year consider mixing in hairy vetch or Austrian winter pea to up the nitrogen in the soil.

All that being said, there are many ways too do this, experiment as that is how you will discover what works best for you. A lot of great answers in this thread.

I don't till for the reasons Worth and others mentioned, but in my garden, tilling seems to increase the amount of weeds. It will put all the wind blown seeds down into the soil allowing them to germinate.

Good luck.

[cjp1953]

Originally Posted by creister

I agree with just chopping it down and letting it lay. I have have cover cropped for several years, and have never tilled it in. A few things you may want to consider:

1.). Use a string line trimmer (weed eater) if you have one, you can cut it lower to the soil line.

2.). Rake back all the trimmings and spread your compost, then cover with the grass clippings. If you can, cover with mulch of shredded leaves or shredded tree trimming.

3.). I read somewhere to wait until the rye has seed heads on it before you cut it. Theory is that you will get the most biomass of roots and leaves etc. this way.

4.). Next year consider mixing in hairy vetch or Austrian winter pea to up the nitrogen in the soil.

All that being said, there are many ways too do this, experiment as that is how you will discover what works best for you. A lot of great answers in this thread.

I don't till for the reasons Worth and others mentioned, but in my garden, tilling seems to increase the amount of weeds. It will put all the wind blown seeds down into the soil allowing them to germinate.

Good luck.

That's why I went to hairy vetch and even yellow clover.10 years ago when I started to use a cover crop it was winter rye.The root system was a pain to till in.I found anther feed store that carries different type of cover crops.Gave them the size of my garden and they gave me a blend of different crops.Rye was always a small percentage of it.Might go just hairy vetch next fall.I have been told you could use a living mulch of clover white or yellow during the summer and mow between the rows.So many choices.

[tarheelchick]

Originally Posted by kchd..

Hey tarheelchick, is your cover crop Rye or Ryegrass (Lolium sp.)? If it is ryegrass, you may not kill it by mowing just once. I would either scalp it, mow it more than once, and/or smother it as well. I have seen it be somewhat persistent in my zone 7b/8a area.

It was called "Gulf Annual Ryegrass"
pure seed 97.08%
crop seed 2.00%
Inert matter .80%
weed seed .12%
Noxious weeds: none found

can someone explain to me what that means? And was this the correct thing to plant or no?

[kchd..]

Originally Posted by tarheelchick

It was called "Gulf Annual Ryegrass"
pure seed 97.08%
crop seed 2.00%
Inert matter .80%
weed seed .12%
Noxious weeds: none found

can someone explain to me what that means? And was this the correct thing to plant or no?

You're cover crop of annual ryegrass is fine. Annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) is often recommended as a cover crop. I'm not sure exactly what hardiness zone you are in, but I suspect it is similar to mine because your ryegrass survived the winter. In colder zones, you'll get winter kill. I think you should definitely cut the grass before any seed heads develop. If you use a weedeater / line trimmer, like others have suggested, you can cut it really close to the soil which will help kill it. Then you can smother it with mulch. I agree with others about not tilling; I'm a no-till believer myself. You will want to kill it, though, because annual ryegrass can sometimes be allelopathic.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by tarheelchick

It was called "Gulf Annual Ryegrass"
pure seed 97.08%
crop seed 2.00%
Inert matter .80%
weed seed .12%
Noxious weeds: none found

can someone explain to me what that means? And was this the correct thing to plant or no?

Yes it is the correct grass.
What this means is it is 97.8 rye grass.
some other crop seed was found in it and a wee bit of weed seed.
The inert matter is chaff dust or what ever.
My cousins grow something like 99. something % pure wheat seed.
Worth

Here is what rye grass will do here in where I live.
Sow in the fall let it sprout and mow it in the winter.
If you keep mowing it this delays the seed heads from forming and soon it will git so hot it will die back.
I think I planted closes to 100 pounds of it on 1 acre of land.
Now the stuff is everywhere.
It really has done a good job of smothering out bad weeds.

Here is some more helpful information.
If you are going no till you need to get a good Eye hoe or grape hoe.
I cannot express to you all how much better these are compared to the light weight junk they call a hoe.
This is the best way I can compare them.
Drinking muddy fish water and spring water.
Going no till means you will have to invest in good old school garden tools and it wont be a chore anymore.
Even the little garden space can be shaved down with it in no time without a line trimmer.
Worth

[tarheelchick]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Yes it is the correct grass.
What this means is it is 97.8 rye grass.
some other crop seed was found in it and a wee bit of weed seed.
The inert matter is chaff dust or what ever.
My cousins grow something like 99. something % pure wheat seed.
Worth

Here is what rye grass will do here in where I live.
Sow in the fall let it sprout and mow it in the winter.
If you keep mowing it this delays the seed heads from forming and soon it will git so hot it will die back.
I think I planted closes to 100 pounds of it on 1 acre of land.
Now the stuff is everywhere.
It really has done a good job of smothering out bad weeds.

Here is some more helpful information.
If you are going no till you need to get a good Eye hoe or grape hoe.
I cannot express to you all how much better these are compared to the light weight junk they call a hoe.
This is the best way I can compare them.
Drinking muddy fish water and spring water.
Going no till means you will have to invest in good old school garden tools and it wont be a chore anymore.
Even the little garden space can be shaved down with it in no time without a line trimmer.
Worth

Thanks Worth! I'm off to find a new hoe! Any particular name brands you can recommend?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by tarheelchick

Thanks Worth! I'm off to find a new hoe! Any particular name brands you can recommend?

Lots of luck finding one they are expensive and therefor not available in most stores.
look on line for one or if you get lucky you can fine one at a good hardware store.
Then you will have to fit the handle or find someone to do it.
Seymour makes them they are now made in china but they are still good.

Here is another company that makes them.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...WWAQeT78VlfAJQ

[Worth1]

Lehmans sells them also.

http://non-electric.lehmans.com/sear...core&view=list

[Worth1]

Here is yet another video.
https://youtu.be/Du01MMy8S4E

[cjp1953]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Lehmans sells them also.

http://non-electric.lehmans.com/sear...core&view=list

My favorite hardware store in the middle of Amish country Worth.Love to go there about 50 miles from my house.

[clkeiper]

Tarheel chick... don't hesitate to use the lehmans site. I live fairly close (like maybe 20 minues) and I have never bought anything that was unquality ( i know this isn't a real word, but it is the truth) from them. There is nothing in their store that is junk.

[Worth1]

I first learned about Lehman's looking for old kerosene lamps to go on a boat.
I wanted everything to be to period.
I dont know if it was them or another site that had gimbaled lamps for ships.

A gimbal is a device that makes something stay upright no matter the tilt the it is attached to.

I think it was Vermont lanterns that sold them and I know a guy the bought some and put them in his house along the walls encase the power went out.
Which is quite often in New Hampshire in the winter and for a week or so sometimes.
Here is a gimbal lantern and what was on ships of old off topic but a nice recess so the speak.
Worth.

[cjp1953]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I first learned about Lehman's looking for old kerosene lamps to go on a boat.
I wanted everything to be to period.
I dont know if it was them or another site that had gimbaled lamps for ships.

A gimbal is a device that makes something stay upright no matter the tilt the it is attached to.

I think it was Vermont lanterns that sold them and I know a guy the bought some and put them in his house along the walls encase the power went out.
Which is quite often in New Hampshire in the winter and for a week or so sometimes.
Here is a gimbal lantern and what was on ships of old off topic but a nice recess so the speak.
Worth.

I get down there a couple times a summer.They have old style appliances but are rather pricey.They do carry high end things.We have the largest Amish community in the country.Kidron is in the middle of Holmes county where this community is.Very hilly but beautiful part of Ohio.

[Worth1]

We have a hardware store in Austin I go to for some things and it is where I bought my eye hoe.
A true Italian grape hoe has a curved handle like a single bitted axe or a hatchet.
What I did when I was looking at the selection of handles was to find one with a curve and had the grain running the right direction.
Some lady about my age told me I sure was being picky so I explained to her what I was doing and why.
Here is an example of proper grain direction for an ax.
If you will look at the end the axe will be laying flat and the end grain on the handle is running the same way as the impact of the load on the handle.
When setting any handle this should be done in the same direction or the handle will soon break.

Okay so in the pictuer left is proper and right isn't proper and this handle was made wrong and is weak.
The first thing you want to do is get rid of the cheap varnish they put on the wood handle if is has it and oil it instead several times.

Worth.