Winter Rye The Ultimate Easy To Grow Grain

Rye (Secale cereale) is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and as a forage crop. It is a member of the Triticeae family which includes barley and wheat.

Rye aka winter rye or cereal rye is used for making flour, bread, beer, some whiskeys, animal fodder, and is also used as a cover crop and an erosion control planting. Rye is used on poor soils to help improve the soil. Later after the organic matter of the soil is built up enough for the land to be productive then other crops can be planted.

The plant produces a seed that can also be eaten whole either as boiled rye or be rolled.

Rye is not the same plant as ryegrass. It is a cereal grain and should not be confused with annual ryegrass or perennial ryegrass, which is a totally different plant only used for lawns or livestock.

Winter rye is the most hardy of all the cereal grains, which is a great quality if you live in the northern climes. Rye does well in poor soils that are low in pH (a common problem) as well as poor soils that have limited nutrients. It also does well in all types of soil from sandy to clay soils. If your land has poor nutrients good luck growing corn or wheat. This is where rye really shines.

So, as you can see, rye is the perfect grain to grow in a post-apocalyptic situation. You might have grown wheat or corn and figured you would stick with that in the occurence of a SHTF situation, but it might soon become apparent that those crops do not do so well when they aren't watered and fertilized to provide perfect growing conditions. Rye will still flourish under most adverse conditions. Notably it is the most drought tolerant of the grains as it puts its roots down deep. That also aids in giving the plant access to nutrients beyond the reach of other cereal grains.

Winter rye will germinate and grow at temperatures as low as 33 degrees. In the Midwest, winter rye grain is normally planted around the first part of September. Adjust your planting times accordingly. Earlier further North and later the further South you go.

Plant Rye at about 100lbs per acre. On bare ground about an inch deep. To clear land burning existing grasses and weeds is an option. Rye will send up long stems with a seed head on top. The crop should be harvested as soon as the grain is thoroughly dry and hard.

Rye grain is smaller than wheat and its yield isn't as high as wheat when milling into flour. The dependability under less than ideal modern farming situation more than makes up for that IMHO.

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