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Reaping cover crop seeds

Posted by idaho_gardener 6a_sw_idaho (My Page) on
Wed, Jul 28, 10 at 15:24

I bought a bag of buckwheat to use as a cover crop, but it just occurred to me that I could try to reap buckwheat seed to use for the next cover crop.

Does anybody have any experience with reaping cover crop seed?


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RE: Reaping cover crop seeds

I try to avoid letting my buckwheat go to seed. I till in the crop just as the majority of the plants are in flower. It can be as problematic as any weed, when you want to plant a veggie crop. I tilled under the buckwheat about 20 days ago, and it's gone in the soil already. I can now use the area for a fall crop, or seed it to winter rye to till in next spring.


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RE: Reaping cover crop seeds

I used black plastic in much of the garden this year so wound up not planting any buckwheat. I left some of last fall's winter rye, Austrian field peas and purple vetch on the margins, though. I might be sorry. We'll see, but I've been cutting off the tops of the rye as they mature and putting them in a paper bag to finish drying. I'm thinking the seed will thresh out at that point. I've been doing the same with the pea pods but have resigned myself to missing most of them. The vetch? I've pretty much missed all of that :) In my case if I use black plastic again next year, I don't think all the escaped seeds will matter. Once the plastic is off the garden, hopefully, the seeds will sprout and add to the fall cover crop. For others it could be a nightmare.


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