Oats

Avena sativa

Poaceae (Grass)

A cool-season grain that doubles as a winter cover crop — edible groats for you, biomass for the soil.

EdibleAnnualCool-seasonSurvival cropStaple caloriesCover crop

Oats (Avena sativa) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek

Sun

Full sun

Water

Moderate

Soil

Average

pH

6.0–7.0

Hardiness

Cool-season annual

Height

2–4 ft

Spacing

Broadcast

Days to harvest

Fall sow

What it is

Oats (Avena sativa) is in the Poaceae (Grass) family. A cool-season grain that doubles as a winter cover crop — edible groats for you, biomass for the soil.

How to grow it

It wants full sun, water it moderate, and give it average soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.0. Space plants about Broadcast apart. Expect roughly Fall sow. Cool-season annual.

How it's used

Oats is used: groats, rolled oats; forage.

🔎 How to identify it

Grass blades
Open drooping seed panicle
Soft seed heads

Edibility

PartsGrain

UsesGroats, rolled oats; forage

CautionHulling at home is labor-intensive.

🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.