If it's hot and humid in your area, keep a close eye on the bales. Spreading them out is a good thing, but do stick a hand in a bale - or use a compost or barbeque thermometer - because the bales CAN get hot enough to smoulder and burn. It sounds like they weren't quite dry when baled. If you have the room, but not enough to spread them out in a single layer, you can lean 2-4 bales together, on end in a teepee shape, and let them dry out that way. If your barn has fans, turn them on, and if not, get some of the bigger fans you can find, beg or borrow, and set them up with the air running across the bales. I would also, if you haven't, speak to the guy who baled and delivered it - for no other reason than to let him know there may be a problem with the hay - he doesn't need a barn fire any more than you do. IF he were willing, you might break open the bales, if they don't seem to be drying out with the other measures, and spread the hay out to dry more, and then rebale it. The problem with this, is that A. the hay will break up more, so there will be leaf loss, and B. it may still be a bit "spoiled". If at all possible, can he take these back and give you replacement bales that were dry when baled? IF he has other, cattle-feeding customers, whose animals are not quite so picky about their hay as horses are, so he's not taking a loss on them, he might be willing to do so. And last, but certainly not least, DON'T DO IT ALL BY YOURSELF. Ending up in the hospital or with your back out for months is no help to you. If worse comes to worst, see if there are a couple of husky, strong teenagers around to hire! You might be able to frame it so they are happy with it, never mind getting paid - they will be building upper body strength!

lynxe, hay contains weed seeds, so if you use hay as a mulch one year, then decide the next year that you don't want to apply mulch, you would have an extremely weedy garden. That's okay, though, because you're going to want to use mulch (the organic gardener's weed killer) forever. Mulchers don't worry about weeds, because if they get one, they just throw some more mulch on it, deprive the weed of light, and that's the end of it. (More persistent weeds may need a deeper, or more light impenetrable, mulch. When I killed a large area of blueberries once, for instance, I laid down cardboard and---forgive me, I was young---carpeting.) Ruth Stout kept her garden under a deep, perpetual, straw and hay mulch. She tucked her compostables under the straw out of sight, rather than use a compost pile. When anything that could be used as mulch came her way, it was laid on her garden. I would bet that the reason we associate hay/straw with her more than leaves or seaweed, say, is because she probably preferred it as her upper, eye-pleasing layer. My favorite eye-pleasing mulch is chipped leaves, although I really like the look of hay in a vegetable garden. (I've never liked Pat Lanza, the author of lasagna gardening, because she never gives mention of Stout whose deep mulch methods she copied, then claimed. Lanza tells how the idea came to her when she was gardening one day. I bet the idea came to her when she was reading one day.) lynxe, if you think those row paths are going to be the same configuration for awhile, you can remove a few inches of the rich soil in the paths, apply it to the garden rows, and fill your paths with a deep layer of your chosen mulch. That will break down and after a few years will become lovely soil under your feet.

Hello to madmagic. You and annp make sense (interpret thaT any way you like). annp I did a google tour, I had no idea how rich in islands your coast is, endless bounty for kayamping. Hope you see harlequins. Here's a photo from a favourite nearby skyline: the pyramid is called Sugar Loaf mountain, our Chomo Lungma. oh that wasn't it - that was a hijack of the hijack - here - That wasn't it either - that was a picture for madmagic, who surely knows what and where the statue is. Here is Sugar Loaf. The owner of the red boat is named Patrick. Unique among the fishermen in this area he has an all girl crew, scruffy tomboys every one.

Jeri made me laugh, that was funny! Humor is badly need in this forum. Dry air is made of 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, and the rest of argon and carbon dioxide. That explains why poor drainage wet clay soil can turn roses yellow ... the roots can't breathe. My Eglantyne rose was yellowish, until I fixed the drainage. MiracleGro potting soil comes with enough nitrogen for 3 months. I had one geranium in MiracleGro and was annoyed that the leaves are so dark green with few flowers (I don't fertilize that pot). There's one pot that I ran out of MiracleGro and put 1/2 garden dirt in ... I actually like that geranium better: it was shorter, more blooms, and lighter green leaves ....easier on the eyes. A friend asked me about phosphorus, so I'll post the info. here: The NPK value of oak leaves is 0.8 /0.35/ 0.15 Maple leaves is similar to that, so it's twice higher in nitrogen than phosphorus. Once decomposed, the value of phosphorus rises. Most decomposed organic matter is high in phophorus, such as sewage sludge at NPK of 2/ 1.9 / 0.3. Animal tankage (manure without the fat and gelatin) with NPK of 8 / 20 / 0. Other high sources of phosporus are rock phosphate and bone meal with NPK of 4 / 21 / 0.2. Drawback of rock phosphate and bone meal: they can only be utilized at pH at or below 7, according to University of Colorado Extension. Since I'm lazy in pruning I would rather sacrifice top growth for more root and flowering, or less nitrogen and more phosphorus. Leaves and stem store plenty of nitrogen, and unless the plant is completely yellow, there's no need for nitrogen. Even then, fixing the drainage and fluff up the soil with organic matter helped my roses to green up without the need for chemical nitrogen (also highest in salt). Adding air to the soil by making it fluffy is the cheapest way to give nitrogen to roots, considering that dry air is made of 78.09% nitrogen. Composting scraps from kitchen is another cheap source of nutrients, considering Cantaloupe rinds has NPK value of 0 / 9.77 /12.0 ... high in phosphorus and potassium. Potato skin has NPK value of 0 / 5.18 / 27.5 ... also high P and K. Nothing beats banana peels in potassium, with NPK value of 0 / 3.25 / 41.76. Potassium is need to counteract the salt in manure, and to fight diseases. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 11:48