Thanks sallyg. Using winter rye is a learning process. It's not great for every situation but if you have "normal" soil, it is a great space holder for the winter and does a marvelous job on fertility. I add copious amounts of the leaf compost in the spring to further enhance nutrients.
My brother called about 2 months ago and asked how to break up very hard soil. He had a part of a plot that was very hard and unforgiving. He was thinking of using rye. I told him, in my opinion, he should use Daikon radishes. He called me about a month later and told me he'd never seen anything like these. They were lifting his ground up and actually seemed to be breaking it up. He was surprised to say the least.
There are a various number of cover crops which do a good job if used in the correct situation. I ran across quite a few of them through the Rodale Institute in Kutztown Pennsylvania. They have a lot of info on their website. Hope this is a help.
