Rye
Rye: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
Rye is a cereal grass known botanically as Secale cereale. It belongs to the same broad family as wheat and barley, but it also has an important role as a cover crop. This profile concerns that use in a vegetable garden: the value of the plant lies in its living cover and biomass rather than a promised harvest of grain.Its narrow leaves and upright stems create a dense, grassy appearance. During vegetative growth, several shoots can develop from the base, helping the stand occupy the soil surface. Later, the stems lengthen and produce characteristic cereal ears. The appearance therefore changes considerably between a low winter cover and a taller stand in active spring growth.Winter rye is valued for its tolerance of cold and its ability to continue covering ground when many warm-season plants are absent. Its fibrous root system explores the soil, while the above-ground cover helps protect the surface…
