Rye grass loves nitrogen . . . so do the brassicas! If you do this, I would make sure you add some extra nitrogen supplement.

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www.TheGardenGuy.org
(Check Out My Blog)

OK. So maybe not a good idea.
Do you have any suggestions for a low growing cover crop I can plant under my brassicas? Something I'd be able to till in in the spring? Trying to get my organic matter up in a relative hurry.

Thanks for the heads up.

Annual Rye Grass, "Lolium multiflorum", is considered by many turf growers as a "weed" and is often mistaken by some people as Cereal Rye, "Secale cereale". If you allow Annual Rye to grow enough to provide the organic matter wanted you will get seeds that will allow this "weed" to grow almost forever. If you cut it before it grows seed you will not get enough OM to warrent the expense.
The best way to get the level of organic matter in your soil up to optimal levels is to get your hands on the tree leaves your neighbors will be raking up, bagging up, and throwing away in another month or so.

Leaves are starting to sound better all the time.

Thanks for the heads up. Are there not any types of "annual rye" that seed wouldn't be a problem?

What's up with the Cereal Rye?

Some people, not knowing any better, have assumed that Annual Ryegrass and Cereal Rye are the same thing when they are not. While both are grasses one is a turf grass, Annual Ryegrass and can be used for animal feed, fodder, while the other is a grain. The Annual Ryegrass has a relatively shallow root system and unless allowed to grow for quite some time does not produce all that much organic matter while the Cereal Rye, planted in the fall, grows some so the soil is covered and held in place during the winter all the time sending an extensive root system down into the soil and then in the spring grows tall and provides a fairly large amount of organic matter when cut, both above the soil line and below the soil line.
Annual Ryegrass, like most other turfgrasses, needs a fairly large amount of Nitrogen in the soil to grow well while the Cereal Rye does not and large amounts of N can create problems for this grain while growing.

Thanks.
Do you happen to understand the distinction between "winter rye" & "rye grass"? Are both of these something different yet from what you mention "cereal rye" & "annual rye grass"?

The reason I ask is both Elliot Coleman and Encyclopedia of organic gardening mention mention "winter rye" and "rye grass" as recommended cover crops.