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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] straw mulch

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  • From: Art Petrzelka <art AT complum.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>, "Andrews, Shirley F." <SAndrews AT AcademicBookServices.com>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] straw mulch
  • Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:45:39 -0500

On Monday 16 June 2003 12:28, Andrews, Shirley F. wrote:
> For us beginners could you elaborate more about straw. If we have to

Straw around here is oat straw, but can be the stalks of any grain crop after
harvesting/threshing/combining. Oats is different than most grain crops in
that it is usually grown as a grain and a cover crop for next year's pasture
or hay ground. Oats will keep most weeds from germinating, but there will be
seeds from horseweed, sourdock and other weeds I can't remember baled up with
the hay. [It's been a looong time since I've baled straw.]

Most (all?) straw is hollow, promoting air and water penetration into the
mulch. It is super bedding for animals because it willl absorb so much, and
isn't an irritant.

I am so used to straw for bedding/mulch that --
I composted some hay that had sat on the bottom layer in a dirt-floor barn
for
the last 30 years. I threw it all in a big pile, added some cobs, and waited
for composting to start so I could kill all the weed seeds. Well, I forgot
that alfalfa hay has no seeds in it. It's been sitting for over a year, with
no weeds sprouting from it, before I realized that I can use it for mulch
right as it sits.

If you can find alfalfa hay, you should be able to use it as is. The alfalfa
adds a lot of nitrogen, among other things.
--
Art Petrzelka
Amana, Iowa




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