Last year I established that grain could be sown over a mown
lawn and do well, PROVIDED that the time of year was right and the weather had the usual Fall rains.
This year I am going to throw in a few variables.
1. I am going to try throwing about some unthreshed grain stalks, near where I grew grain successfully last year. I want to see if the grain will self-sow.
2. I am trying a second plot, one with more sandy soil that grew big grass last year. I cut one small area before I sprinkled on seed but I left another spot with long grass, and I sprinkled peas and soft red winter wheat over both spots. I did not used unthreshed grain here as I only want to try one variable at a time.
3. I have also sowed leftover
pea seeds. The idea is that the peas might start to grow and then winter kill, leaving the soil more rich for the grain.
One concern that I have is that the sandier soil with the long grass has a heavy layer of dead grass over the soil that has barely started to rot. It is raining now and that layer is soft and moist, but I suspect that when the sun comes out it will dry up very quickly and the grain will not have a chance to grow. We shall see.
The above has been done and it is raining now: it will be a while before I can tell if things start to grow!
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