Shavings

[WLLady]

I love using straw as mulch around all my garden plants!!!

[Killerbunny]

We had somebody grow garlic here as a favour while she moved to keep the sets going for the new place ( a few thousand). She mulched everything with crappy straw full of weed seeds which several years later we are still fighting!

[Ontario Chick]

I have used straw for years and occasionally there are oats or barley that will grow, actually used the barley as
Thanksgiving table decoration, and have never had any problems with weeds.
Old hay, another story entirely, although it was pretty broken down the seeds are viable for years and alfa alfa in your garden not a good thing, never did that again.

[Killerbunny]

Oh so maybe it was old hay she used?

[Ontario Chick]

Oh so maybe it was old hay she used?

Quite possible, clean straw breaks down beautifully in the garden and not much left by next spring.

[kenya]

I didn't see much in the way of weeds in the straw bale I bought, seemed pretty clean. I'm glad I did mulch it, with this heat I would have to water them twice a day.

[Ontario Chick]

Your tomatoes and everything else will thank you, also your back, since the weeding is cut down to a minimum.

[kenya]

Yes cutting out so much weeding was a big part of using the mulch.

[labradors]

Kenya,

Hopefully, the straw will be ok around your veggies. The thing we have to watch out for these days is herbicide. Tomatoes and beans are especially sensitive, and can be killed even by using manure from fodder that was previously sprayed and passed through an animal!

Linda

[KimChick]

Last summer, what we did with our chicken shavings & fresh manure was to put it in the veggie garden, in between some of the rows to give it time to age. Then this summer, after rototilling, that is where the veggie rows are. This summer, we have a dedicated pile for manure by the barn.