Can I cover crop with edible grains?

[roadrunner]

My concern with the buckwheat is if it will germinate and grow now, as opposed to June. I basically need a cover crop that will grow in late March or early April and I can till under in June. Though I might be able to squeeze a month of buckwheat in during late summer.

My plan is to do cereal rye in early fall for overwintering. I hear it's good at fracturing clay soils.

You probably would be better served by waiting to plant the buckwheat. I planted mine back in mid-February and they germinated, but now they're looking kind of sad with the latest bout of coldness we've been experiencing here, which I believe is the effects of the three winter storms up in the NE. And we're suppose to have another cold front by this Wednesday

Buckwheat really does hate the cold, even without freezing temps, they're struggling with our lows in the mid to upper 30's.

I've had some super cold winters here in Jax, but never this cold (relatively speaking) this late in the year; I'm of it.

 

[Purrfluff]

When do you think I should put in the buckwheat? April?

I intend to put in the oats as soon as I get them. My reasoning is that I was able to sprout some cat grass oat seed last October. So I am hoping that means that oats will germinate even in cool, damp conditions.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that we could get more frost. I think the average date of last frost is the 20th of March but I saw some other table that suggested early April.

I hope the oats grow fast. I'll need that space by June or July at the latest. I'm told the buckwheat goes pretty quick.

I hope the weather starts cooperating with you more. I bet the craziness in the Northeast is playing hell with the gardeners in that neck of the woods.

 

[Purrfluff]

My seeds finally arrived. And with them a pound each of oats and buckwheat seed.

I'm tempted to sow the buckwheat seed in early April but I suspect that's too soon. I might make a test row or two and hold most of the seed until May.

The oats I would like to sow within a week. There is going to be a lot of rain between now and June and I'd like something to soak it up. Rather than having the soil turn to mud.

Is late March a viable time to sow oats seed? And when should I sow the buckwheat?

And how long should I let the cover crops grow? I would like to be able to till all of it under and have it rot within a month or so. But I can also cut the stalks and turn them into straw for mulch if need be.

 

[Purrfluff]

The oats aren't germinating. I think the birds are getting some of them. But for the most part they just aren't sprouting. I've picked out several out seeds where the hull popped open but nothing happened. I think the soil is just too cold for germination.

Which annoys me because I now have these beds that are sitting fallow. It's way too cold for the buckwheat. Something I might try just for the hell of it is to plant some mustard greens and see if they germinate.

 

[Purrfluff]

Still no germination from any of the grain seed I put in. I got a soil thermometer and checked the soil temps. Soil temps were consistently between 53 and 55 degrees. That ought to be warm enough for germination. A combination of rain and my own watering should have kept things moist.