How to Plant Oats

Oats were one of the first grains cultivated by humans and are the third most important grain crop in the United States, although used mainly as animal feed rather than human food. You can choose from two types of oats, winter and spring. The difference between the two is that winter oats are more cold hardy, and are sown in late summer for an early summer harvest. Oats are perfect as a cover crop for the winter garden as they prevent soil erosion, shade out cool weeds, and, after harvesting the oats, the stalks can be tilled directly into the soil.

Things You'll Need

• Rake
• Tiller
• Oat seeds

Instructions

1. Choose a spot with fast draining soil that receives four to six hours of full sun a day.

2. Plant winter oats in August for a mid-summer harvest. Plant spring oats in late March to early April for a late summer harvest.

3. Remove weeds and other vegetation from the seed bed by hand pulling or smothering with black plastic or mulch.

4. Rake or till the seed bed until the soil is loose and smooth.

5. Broadcast seed the oats using a sweeping or fanning motion. You are trying for 2 seeds per square inch, but it doesn't have to be exact. You do want to avoid bare spots surrounded by thickly planted spots.

6. Rake the oat seeds into the top 1/2 to 1 inch of soil. Burying the seed foils hungry birds and squirrels and ensures that at least some of the oat seeds will germinate, so don't worry if some seeds remain on top of the soil. They will germinate provided they are not eaten.

7. Water your seed bed well. Keep the seed bed moist until the oats germinate.

Tips & Warnings

• You can plant oats as late as September if you are intending to use them as a cover crop in your garden. Oats are the perfect crop to plant after heavy feeding crops like corn and early potatoes. Oats will tolerate light frosts. Oats don't tolerate hot weather well. If you live in a region with hot summers, plant winter oats rather than spring oats.

• If the soil is cold and wet in spring, hold off sowing oat seeds until the soil drys out to prevent fungal disease.

References

• Mother Earth News, cover crops
• Heirlom organics, guide to growing oats