Winter rye termination

I have several beds plated in winter rye. I recently read that the milk stage was the time to crimp them. I saw heads forming and crimped walked down a portion that was seeded in a path.

After inspecting the pics, I realized they are only just beginning to tassel. Ooops.

Anyway, is the trampled rye 'crimped'?

Roller crimpers tend to have blades on the rolling drum and those blades aid in killing the plant to create the desired mulch.  Walking on it will be a part of that process, but you may need to get some of those ice cleats or similar under your boots to do sufficient damage....?  Wondering why the milk stage of the grain filling is so important in the timing...maybe maximizing biomass growth, but catching it before grain maturity so it doesn't re-seed?

I just scythed my rye grain but yours looks like rye grass?

I've grown rye grass in the past and tried to cut it to make space to plant some things and yes it kept growing and I kept cutting ...nice for some handy mulch.   I pulled it where the tomatoes went in, might have been peppers.

I've walked down some cover crop but don't remember what or even of it worked🤔...maybe winter peas and oats as they got too messy to scythe.

John wrote:.... you may need to get some of those ice cleats or similar under your boots to do sufficient damage....?  

Ohhh! I have a pair of those! A few years back, my crimping was done by pulling a heavy metal pipe over the beds. The rye just regrew. That year I took a machete to it.

Yes Judith, it is ryegrass sold as a covercrop. Though I hadn't realized they were two distinct plants.

For winter rye, pollen shed is the time to do termination. But I doubt tramping would be as effective since the roller crimper is much heavy machine. If you simply cut them down they won't grow back. Scathing is better than mowing because the biomass isn't shredded into small pieces and causing saps to expose. Mines are heading but like Judith said, yours look like different species.

joylynn,

I buy a five pound bag of organic rye berries from azure...same as you would grind for flour for bread.
It has great germination and I try to plant in the early fall.
Scything time is whenever I need the space so not very methodical there.
I do love the kind of blue green color of the rye grain plants and it discourages any other plants while it's growing.
....andmakes the nicest swooshing sound when scythed.

I know that rye grass is a wonderful cover crop but I got annoyed when I cut it at the wrong time and couldn't get it to die back....will try again one day after we learn from your experience🙃