Interplant rye with crimson clover?

Had dozer out yesterday finishing up the clearing job for where my house will go.  Had him do a little extra while there and he broke into what was a large (40' by 15' maybe) pile of mystery and found it was, as we suspected, the remnants of the last timbering there.  It's was mostly rotted down with some chunks of stumps and such remaining.  He offered to spread it out and I ended up with about 80'x70' of decent soil effectively cultivated for me (with some dozer track surface compaction here and there).

So decided might still get a winter rye crop in there to cover the soil.  Went and picked up an Earthway seeder at the closest Rural King (only 40 miles!) and spent the morning planting a 50x50 plot in 9-12" rows (had the seed on hand.)

If it comes up and acts as a cover crop I will be happy, but hoping might actually get a harvest next summer.

Question I have is would it make sense to broadcast some crimson clover in there to fix some nitrogen over winter, or would that interfere with the rye?  I suspect I'm going to have massive weed issues since this was basically a brush area and the seed bank will be fully stocked.  More cover might be good to out compete that stuff if the clover has a chance in that role.

Any advice?  Besides weed a lot?

I have a lot more ground cleared that needs something growing (besides the return of briars and an assortment of brush!) so I picked up a bad of ryegrass and a decent broadcaster.  Hoping that works.  I have some daikon and the clover I can scatter too.  Gotta be careful with daikons though, they look like they could puncture tires.  Have some rather intimidating ones in a trial bed.

May pick up a bag of oat seed too for some diversity.  I know the oats will grow from the surface because been feeding my chicken some and the trail behind their tractor has some oat stands.  I swear, they scatter more oat seed than they eat.  They don't much like them, which is my plan, make them eat that as last resort.  The much prefer the sprouted and overnight-soaked ones.  For some fun I toss in a pear core and watch the food fight.

Kind of late in the year for oats, but any other time of year, that is the best thing to crowd out weeds. I typically sow with 15 lbs Timothy/15 Pounds Clover, and then 50 pounds of oats, per acre of course.

You can sow down with clover now though. It generally takes 2 years for clover to really germinate.

Travis Johnson wrote:Kind of late in the year for oats, but any other time of year, that is the best thing to crowd out weeds. I typically sow with 15 lbs Timothy/15 Pounds Clover, and then 50 pounds of oats, per acre of course.

You can sow down with clover now though. It generally takes 2 years for clover to really germinate.

Thanks, I'll hold off on more oats and let the chickens handle those.  Ryegrass is probably my best or only bet right now to cover the cleared and leveled areas.

Dan Scheltema wrote:

Travis Johnson wrote:Kind of late in the year for oats, but any other time of year, that is the best thing to crowd out weeds. I typically sow with 15 lbs Timothy/15 Pounds Clover, and then 50 pounds of oats, per acre of course.

You can sow down with clover now though. It generally takes 2 years for clover to really germinate.

Thanks, I'll hold off on more oats and let the chickens handle those.  Ryegrass is probably my best or only bet right now to cover the cleared and leveled areas.

I think so, but good on you for trying to sow it down with something before winter.

An old agronomist told me this years ago: Mother Nature does not like bare feet.