Winter Rye (Secale cereale )
Winter rye is the most common type of rye. It is sown in autumn and after the winter it grows quickly and is harvested in the summer. Winter rye on average matures earlier than winter wheat.
The sowing time varies with the climate. For southern Sweden September is a good time. Sowing earlier gives better established plants, which will give a better harvest next summer, but also increases the risk of lodging, plants killed by the winter, and diseases. When sowing early you need less seeds, when sowing late you need to increase the number of seeds per area unit.
Winter rye can be grown in different ways:
1. Midsummer rye. Sown around Midsummer, grazed or cut in the autumn, and then harvested the next summer. Since it is sown so early the plants form bigger tufts and can be sown more sparsely.
2. Sown in the autumn just like ordinary winter rye. In northern Sweden in August, in southern Sweden in September. I have sown rye as late as the first week of October and still got a good harvest.
3. Lazy man's rye. Sown in spring together with barley (2 parts barley to 1 part rye). At the end of the summer the barley is harvested and the rye is grazed or cut, and then harvested the next summer. For it to be successful, the rye plot should not have too much weeds, since the time from sowing to harvest is so long.
29 March after the winter