Gardening With Straw Saves Time, Money, and Sanity!
Using straw as mulch in the garden saves me money, crops, and my sanity. (Note: Straw is not hay.) See the many benefits of mulching with straw bales in the vegetable garden.
No, I’m not Rumpelstiltskin, the cranky gnome in a Grimm fairy tale; I can’t spin straw into gold. But straw bales are inexpensive gold for gardens. I only pay $4 a bale, and the straw saves me hours of weeding, watering, and worrying. I get it from a farmer nearby. Numerous garden centers stock straw, too. Bales are huge; one will usually cover the garden. Just be sure that you are buying straw, not hay.
Everything in the vegetable garden is mulched with a 6-inch layer, including blueberries, Alpine strawberries, and cranberries. I use a foot or two of straw atop the potato bed to grow clean potatoes that can be easily harvested. Tubers form in the straw, and crops are always bigger when I use the straw mulch.
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Straw is Not Hay
First, let me explain that straw is not hay. You don’t want to use hay, as it will cause nightmares and plenty of weed pulling. Hay is a grass that is primarily grown and cut for livestock. It is difficult to cut hay without at least some of the grass going to seed.
Straws are the dry hollow hay stalks remaining after cereal crops such as wheat or barley have been harvested. They contain few or no seed heads, especially when compared to hay” (University of Maryland Extension Service). Straw stalks don’t compact or mat. They’re also slow to decompose and don’t tie up nitrogen or other nutrients in the soil, making the perfect mulch.
Straw Lets You Water Less Often
A thick blanket of straw keeps the moisture in the soil, radically slowing evaporation. Watering the garden once a week will be the norm rather than every day or two. They dry out a lot slower in hot, sunny weather.
If you live in an area of the country experiencing a rainfall shortage this summer or drought, straw mulch is gold! I do. We’ve received only a tenth of normal rainfall and had a huge snow shortage last winter. The ground is so dry that it’s cracking in spots. But despite high temperatures and a lack of rain, I water the vegetable garden only once a week.
Straw Mulch Reduces Weeds
Straw blocks out the sun, preventing most weeds from germinating and growing. First, remove the weeds from your garden bed. Then, lay down the straw immediately.
If you’ve already seeded your vegetables, don’t lay straw on top of the seeds or seedlings. But everywhere else, there is exposed ground; lay down a nice thick layer of straw
It will not only keep weeds from growing but also keep the soil moist, soft, and workable.
Straw Mulch Reduces Pests and Diseases
Straw also saves crops like tomatoes, peppers, and squash from developing blossom-end rot and cat-facing, blueberries from shriveling, and sweet peppers from turning hot.
Soil moisture stays even, and calcium can be transferred from the soil to tomatoes easily, preventing diseases.
Straw mulch at the base of tomato and pepper plants also prevents the transfer of soil-borne diseases such as early blight to plant leaves. No water splashes up from the soil to the leaves because the straw absorbs it.
A thick straw mulch also fosters the growth of large pumpkins, winter squash, and watermelons. The mulch provides a clean blanket upon which melons and pumpkins can grow unblemished.
Straw Mulch Increases Nutrients in the Soil
Straw decomposes like any other organic material, but it’s much slower. As straw rots, it releases nutrients, feeding the plants growing in it. Straw actually makes your garden better. Genius, right?
Have you used straw for mulch? What other materials do you use to hold moisture in and prevent diseases?
Doreen G. Howard
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This looks like the perfect solution to my wanting more raised beds in my garden. I have 6, but it's never enough! I use my raised beds to grow "sensible" plants, such as paste tomatoes for canning, and peas for freezing. This will allow me to grow more, such as peppers, heirloom tomatoes, and other plants that I'd only harvest in the late summer. So I'll give this a try, and I can tell you my husband already thanks you for distracting me from begging for more beds that he'd have to build!
I used straw this year that I purchased from a local supply store and unfortunately it contained a good deal of seed heads. I now have wheat sprouting all over my garden. The only solution I can think of is to rake off all the straw, avoiding the vegetable plants, pull all the wheat sprouts and mulch with something else. Ugh.
I'd harvest the young wheat shoots and juice them. The wheat sprouts are easy to juice and benefit from same with barley straw
I have used straw for years in my garden, however I put down a thin layer of newspaper first and straw on top. I don’t use as much straw that way, and weeds and water are controlled. We did have a slug problem this past year so instead of tilling under what was left of the straw and newspaper from last year, we raked it into a pile and burned it. Then tilled the ashes into the garden. I’ll let you know if we have less slugs this year. The straw makes for a neat and clean garden and makes walking in it easier then walking in mud.
I was really happy to see this article!
Crushed eggshells are great for keeping slugs at bay.
This is my 5th year straw bale gardening. I love it.
I have used straw as a mulch for a few years to keep down the weeds, maintain soil moisture and temperature, but also for the beneficial insects that like to hide in the straw. The one down side that I have experienced is it also provides a welcome home for slugs and snails. I didn't see this mentioned in the article or in any comments. Is this not a problem for others? Could I be doing something wrong? Appreciate any thoughts/input as I want to continue using straw. Thank you in advance!
I have been gardening in straw bales for about 8 years now and it is a fantastic method for small areas and if you are not yet ready commit to a specific area for a garden. I heard about it first on NPR when they interviewed Joel Karsten who wrote a book called “straw bale gardens”. I have had great results with the method. You do have to be careful with using the straw as mulch the next year, as tomato seeds commonly get in the straw and come up all over the garden. And if you have any blight, it may be best not to use the mulch around the tomatoes the next year.
Now, you just need to include the straw bale method in your garden planner!
Canadian wheat farmers will explain to you that straw is the part of the plant after the seeds have been removed!! this applies to eat barley and rye
I want to new people who are gardening to help understand another part of the "straw" and "hay" issue. "Hay is a type of grass that is grown and dried for cattle livestock feed over the winter months when the pasture grass is not growing because it is too cold or covered with snow. It is stored in barns or sheds, sometimes left covered in nearby fields.
"Straw" is the left over stem from the harvest of wheat, barley, oats and other similar grains. It is a secondary low cost crop that farmers sell after the grains are harvested, stored, or sold as a cash crop. So buy the straw from a local farmer; he /she will appreciate it.
