Straw as mulch

[Rhodie Ranch]

We'll be on very strict water conservation methods shortly. I have decided to plant my tiny garden regardless and have drip tape through out. Russ' beans are going into black Lowes pots on the other side of the fence and will be on regular drip. This year the deer will be starving, so I'll be enclosing them in some wire. See pic from my deck of my miserable garden, then pic of the pots for Russ' beans and then a pic of my yummy bell peppers from last year. Yummy to the deer.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

So after I bought 24 bags of redwood mulch for the front yard (no grass), and will get a pick up truck of monkey mulch for the back yard, I wonder what to use for the garden. When at our last house, I used newspaper with rocks to hold it down. Shall I do that again, or should I pick up a bale of straw from the local feed store? The gal at the feed store said to be prepared for lots of weeds for the straw, but if it will hold in the water, I can do weeds in that tiny space. Thoughts?

 

[nachoqtpie]

This is the first year that we're using straw as mulch. We used actual mulch last year, but when we went to till

 

[ninnymary]

I am using free wood chips this year. I am surprised that a week later and my black pots that are in full sun are just as moist as the day I watered them. Normally I would water my beds once a week this time of year. So far, no need. I'm loving this stuff! Another bonus is that the squirrels for some reason don't dig in it.

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use wheat straw over newspaper. The straw is mainly to hold the newspaper down but it also keeps the newspaper from drying out as fast. Normally the straw and newspaper break down enough they can just be turned under but sometimes they don't. I just rake it aside and have some more mulch ready to go.

You will get some seeds in the wheat straw. They are not all that hard to pull out of a mulched area, especially of you don't wait until the wheat is ready to harvest. Sometimes I'll put a bale of wheat straw in the chicken run and remove the wire. It takes a day or two for the chickens to thresh it and eat a lot of the seeds. They don't get all of them but they get a lot, plus they shred the bale and make it easier to spread the mulch.

 

[journey11]

Straw will work, but it dries out a little faster than say bark mulch or wood chips. If you use straw, put it over newspaper or cardboard, with your drip line underneath that.

 

[seedcorn]

Straw my garden down every year (or watch July-August heat destroy it). Interesting went out to work in garden Saturday. I had placed leaves over straw in garden last fall. Started mulching the leaves and all the straw was gone. Worms ate it but left the leaves.

 

[catjac1975]

Grass clipping work the best for me. Keeps down most of the weeds.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Sadly there will be little grass this year. We'll be mowing the tiny lawn about every two weeks or so.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

@murphysranch - I really feel for you guys out west with the drought. And according to the "experts" it may be many years until it changes. We see the photos of the reservoirs at record low levels and my heart goes out to you. The trees, crops, and wildlife will suffer most at first and then the people will soon follow. What a mess.

 

[so lucky]

I guess this is one problem we can't blame on terrorism.
If a drought in the fruit and vegetable capitol of the US doesn't make the rest of us want to grow our own in backyard gardens, I don't know what will.