Karyn, I let my wheat bales "cook" for about 3 weeks, before I planted any veges. Wife planted annuals in between them (scabiosa's one) and the bugs didn't bother the veges at all. If you're in a hurry, there's the 10 day method, suggested by a pro in Dave's Garden. Days 1Â3: Water the bales thoroughly and keep them wet. Days 4Â6: Sprinkle the bales with 1/2 cup of ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) per bale per day, and water it well into the bales. Days 7Â9: Cut back to 1/4 cup of ammonium nitrate per bale per day and continue to water it in well. Day 10: No more ammonium nitrate, but do add 1 cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer per bale and water it in well. Day 11: Transplant your plants into the bales. Using a spatula to make a crack in the bale for each plant, place the plant down to its first leaf and close the crack back together as best you can. Also, some are known to use it for another crop, like potatoes, once the strawbales decompose. For more references: www.nicholsgardennursery.com www.county.ces.uga.edu www.co.clay.mn.us Good luck Karyn.

I have used straw for mulch many times, but not usually alone by itself. In the fall I collect all of our fallen leaves and chop them up with the mower. I combine that with used straw from the chicken coop, and also grass clippings from the summer mowings. So right now the main mulch in the cutting garden is grass clippings. In another month or so the chopped up leaves will go into the mix - and the used straw from the chicken coop. I've used "fresh" (non-chicken coop) straw as well, but I run it through the mower first so it breaks down faster. The beds are covered with this mixture through the winter. For annuals that get planted in the spring I uncover the row areas I need to warm up the soil a bit before planting. I've never seen voles here but we do have the shrews others were talking about. Thankfully their main diet is not vegetation. Our cats bring them to the back porch as "presents". :) There are still some weeds that pop up around the edges, but thats about it. The layers of built up mulch keep the rest at bay - and build good quality soil at the same time. If you don't have access to a lot of grass or fallen leaves - offer to pick others up from the curb. I cringe when I see all those bagfuls on the curb for the trash man to take. I've helped myself to many in the past! :)

The difference in hay bales and straw bales is that the straw could be full of weed seeds depending on what kind of hay it is. That's especially true if the hay is from native pasture land with a variety of prairie grasses and forbs. We have friends here in our rural location that frequently gift us with old, spoiled hay that I use in my compost pile and as mulch in my garden beds. Weeds will sprout from that hay and you have to be aggressive about pulling them quickly or they'll take over. How quickly you feel a rise in the temperatures inside the hay will vary depending on how old or how fresh it is. About this time last year we got 206 bales of old hay that was only 6 to 8 months old and those bales weren't decomposing inside yet. However, when I broke some bales apart in January 2012 to use as mulch on the dogs' muddy pathway in the dog yard, those bales were pure compost in the center and were smoking hot. The bales I've been breaking apart to use as mulch in the veggie garden since then also have been compost in the middle and really hot. If your bales are really old, they might already have decomposed to some extent inside. Most hay bales don't last but 2 to 4 years even if kept inside a barn. If you have allergies to mold and fungi, be careful when breaking open the bales because once they're wet, they are prone to have mold and/or fungi in them. Depending on what kind of wildlife you have in your neighborhood, you may have issues with field mice and snakes and some insects getting into your hay bales. Here where I live we have tons of wildlife and the mice and snakes love the bales of hay. We have friends with cattle dogs that have been bitten by rattlesnakes that climb up into/onto the bales of hay. I have to be really careful and watchful when breaking apart bales of hay in the spring and summer because of the snakes and scorpions here. That won't be a big issue if you're in a pretty urban area where venomous snakes are rare, but you also may find scorpions and fire ants in your hay bales if those are common pests in your area. It is easier to raise plants in bales of hay or straw in a wet year than in a really dry year like last year. In a really dry year, they dry out too quickly. Judging from the weather we are having now, this ought to be a good year to grow in hay bales.

I have spent about three weeks with approximately 2 bales of straw that also had a small amount of goat manure mixed with it to begin. I have used copious amounts of water as well as what Lawrence Hills called HLANo.1 (Human Liquid Activator No.1. I estimate it might be about half way there, and daytime temperatures are in the low 20sC. Do a search on preparing mushroom compost from straw (for growing white button mushrooms) and you should get some good info. Old McDonald.