rye crimping for weed control and fertilization

I like to get a cover crop of winter rye sown before October so it is established for early spring growth. Rye is an amazing crop that stays green all winter and will grow six to eight feet tall by early June. At that point, I can crimp it (basically run it over with a giant wheel behind the tractor) to terminate the crop, leaving a thick mulch to fertilize crops for our fall Fort Wayne farm share.

A year of rye:

Initial tillage of future plots

Chickens grazing on the rye in early April

"Inspecting” the rye just before crimping, early June

Crimped rye on the left; 8-foot rye inside the fence on the right

This system has many benefits that facilitates healthier soil and better crops:
 

1. I don’t have to till after the rye is established, which prevents erosion and makes for happy soil. The rye keeps the soil moist and loose so when I go to plant an actual food crop in June — the stuff you’ve been eating all summer! — I just add compost and plant (no tractor needed).
2. Because rye is aggressive and grows in temperatures down to the low thirties, it outcompetes most weeds, leaving little competition for the future vegetables.
3. It creates an incredible amount of biomass. Carbon is the building block of all soils, and rye can add 10,000 lbs. of dry carbon per acre. Not bad for a little grain!

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This last photo is of our main fall crop, which I planted into crimped rye. I’ve experimented with planting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, and winter squash (not pictured) in this way for our Fort Wayne farm stand. You can see the above crops have thrived in the rye, benefiting from the covered soil and weed-free beds. The patches of green that are actually rye that has self-seeded, an indication that I was a little late on crimping, but the new rye hasn’t out-competed the crop. Our Fort Wayne farm will continue to benefit from this system for years to come.