I just pulled out a bag of winter rye and it should be the size of a grain of rice.
It might indeed be grass seed that you have.

yeah, this stuff's a lil bit smaller, and maybe the 50 lb bag is closer to the size of a grain of rice.
that kinda sux, it was a buck a pound, the 50 lb bag is only 12 bucks!!

would you recommend mixing winter rye w/ any other type of cover crop?

People sell Annual Ryegrass for "winter rye" and that seed willbe very small like other grass seeds and Annual Ryegrass is a weed. More often than not I find vetch seed mixed in with the "Winter Rye" I seed and there are some clovers that will germinate in the fall like "Winter Rye".

I think there's some confusion going on here.......annual rye grass and winter rye grass are the exact same plant, Lolium multiflorum. It is NOT a weed, but used extensively in cool season turf grass blends and to overseed warm season grasses in the southern states that go dormant in winter. Because of its fast germination, early weed suppressing qualities, rapid rhizomatous spread and continued growth in cool (even cold) weather, it is also used as a winter cover crop.

Germination of this seed is typically between 7-14 days. It could be faster in warmer weather, but at this time of year it may be quite a bit slower and you may not even get full germination if soil temperatures are too low. Most cover crop and turf grass seed packages will contain a percentage of weed seeds - they're pretty much impossible to eliminate entirely - but the better distributors will attempt to keep them at a minimum, typically less than 5%.

The size of the seed can vary quite abit also. I generally compare it to a caraway or fennel seed, but small grained rice is not too far off either. It looks like grass seed because it IS grass seed :-))

The only confusion is that some people have started to use certain terms in ways that are wrong. Winter Rye is Cereal Rye is "Secale cereale" and annual ryegrass, "Lolium multiflorum" is a fast germinating, weedy, turf grass, an undesireable grass in any lawn. About the only value as a cover crop is that the soil is covered but that Annual Ryegrass will not grow enough to provide any but a very small amount of organic matter and if not killed in the spring soon enough will set seeds that will germinate every year forever. These plants are not interchangeable and "Lolium multiflorum" is not a good winter cover crop.

And once again you are incorrect. While cereal rye is indeed an excellent cover crop, nowhere in this thread was that terminology (or the botanical name) used so my mistake was an honest one. However your knowledge of what is also very commonly called winter rye, annual rye - Lolium multiflorum, and its value as both a winter cover crop AND a very important component of most of the turf grass blends used in cool climates as well as an overseed for warmer climates is sorely lacking.

Don't make yourself out to be the "expert" on everything to do with soils that you are not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annual rye grass cover crop

dern...excuse me...lol

i like tuna and crackers, how bout you? lol

seriously, why do they call it cereal rye, cuz i always want a bowl of lucky charms afterwards....

now i'm worried that i'm gonna have a bunch of grass come up in my garden this year.....

i guess i'm gonna have to buy the 12 lb bag and also buy a lb of the stuff i got at the coop, take pictures, so you can tell which i have sown....

There are some that consider Annual Ryegrass a good, short term cover, but these sources also recommend heavy applications of herbicides to kill it so it does not escape (self seed). The people I talk with at Michigan State, Ohio State, and Purdue Universities tell me that Annual Ryegrass is a weed that should not be planted in a garden unless you want to deal with it the rest of your life.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annual Ryegrass

I'm not sure how your "people" come to that conclusion, as annual rye is the least cold hardy of any of the winter cover crops and is generally not recommended for zones below 6 simply because it doesn't survive winter, unless temperatures are extremely mild or with a very heavy snow cover. And since it doesn't bloom, let alone set seed, until late spring (generally May at the earliest) in cool season zones, when used as a cover crop in these areas, it is tilled in and killed long before seeding could become a problem.

Its use as a turf grass in cool season areas is always in a blend, not as a single species. Blended seed mixes tend to offer better results than single species as various common turf grasses offer differing attributes like increased drought, heat or shade tolerance, durability and spread than do individual species. Annual rye is used a nurse grass in many cool season blends, providing protection and weed suppression properties until longer lived but slower to establish species fill in. It lasts a season or two then dies out. And since most folks don't wait until late spring or early summer to begin their mowing routine, wanton seeding is not an issue.

west9491, if you do have annual rye rather than cereal rye planted as a cover crop, I doubt you need to be overly concerned. It has many very positive attributes in this regard including significant nitrogen capture. As long as the cover crop is well-tilled or thoroughly incorporated into the planting area before it has a chance to flower and set seed, it's not going to take over you garden.

Everything kimmsr says is correct; everything hostile, condescending gardengal48 says is wrong.
Check any source, any dictionary, encyclopedia, seed company, Wikipedia, anywhere (except the omniscient gardengal) and you will find that winter rye ="Secale cereale" and annual ryegrass = "Lolium multiflorum." Not the same species, not even the same genus.

Gardengal is making herself out to be "an expert on everything to do with seeds (where did she come up with 'soil?') that [sic] she is not."