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I want to use straw in my gardening endeavors, so I'm looking for 'organic' straw. It does not have to be certified organic, just not sprayed with herbicides. I am in ABQ and traveling up to an hour would be OK. Thanks for any leads you can give me!
I see a lot of alfalfa hay on trucks and lots of alfalfa fields, but not much straw as straw is usually a wheat by product and not much wheat is grown in New Mexico.
However, I would suggest calling (or visiting) Tractor Supply in Bernalillo. They often sell straw bales (for obscene by-the-bale prices). A normal hay bale bought from a farmer back east sells for $2-4. I would expect to pay twice that, at least, at a place like Tractor Supply.
I want to use straw in my gardening endeavors, so I'm looking for 'organic' straw. It does not have to be certified organic, just not sprayed with herbicides. I am in ABQ and traveling up to an hour would be OK. Thanks for any leads you can give me!
I am a retired dairy farmer who purchased many semi loads of straw and hay in my lifetime.
The last thing I would want on my farm was a load of organic straw.
The reason ? weeds and weed seeds in the straw.
I have never seen a field of organic grain that wasn't weed infested.
My farm neighbor was organic and seeded oats every spring.
Every June the field was so infested with weeds he would get a warning /citation from the weed inspector to either spray or cut the field.
He would cut it and use that weed infested grain as hay.
If it is weeds you desire, by all means insist on organic straw and you will be sure to have weeds for years to come.
I see a lot of alfalfa hay on trucks and lots of alfalfa fields, but not much straw as straw is usually a wheat by product and not much wheat is grown in New Mexico.
That makes sense, why I'm finding it more difficult to locate!
Quote:
However, I would suggest calling (or visiting) Tractor Supply in Bernalillo. They often sell straw bales (for obscene by-the-bale prices). A normal hay bale bought from a farmer back east sells for $2-4. I would expect to pay twice that, at least, at a place like Tractor Supply.
Thank you for the resource, I will try them. I called Osuna Nursery yesterday, and they said they do carry them in the fall, when the pumpkins come out, for decorating, so I don't have hope that they are non herbicide bales.
The soil in my yard has been covered with black plastic and rocks for 50 years. I don't even see insects in it...it seems devoid of organic matter and life. So I need a big source of organic material. In the midwest, where I moved from, leaves from deciduous trees are plentiful. People put them in bags on the curb for city pick-up, and I never had anyone object to me taking them for my own use. But where I am now, all I have access to in large quantities are pine needles, and they take a very long time to decompose compared to deciduous leaves or straw.
My landscape is very aged, and not maintained very well, so I hope to rejuvenate it, to get rid of the rocks and ragged juniper bushes and plant lovely low-water shade trees and plants that bees are butterflies like, but it all starts with the soil! Straw seemed like the least expensive way to start doing that, but maybe not!
I am a retired dairy farmer who purchased many semi loads of straw and hay in my lifetime.
The last thing I would want on my farm was a load of organic straw.
The reason ? weeds and weed seeds in the straw.
I have never seen a field of organic grain that wasn't weed infested.
My farm neighbor was organic and seeded oats every spring.
Every June the field was so infested with weeds he would get a warning /citation from the weed inspector to either spray or cut the field.
He would cut it and use that weed infested grain as hay.
If it is weeds you desire, by all means insist on organic straw and you will be sure to have weeds for years to come.
Hi David, I've not had the experience you've had, but I've only used straw (not hay) as a soil amender mulching or did straw-bale gardening (just one season). In my context, I didn't experience the problems with weeds that you witnessed. Thank you for the warning, it's good information to have!
The herbicides I'm concerned with are the newer 'persistent' herbicides, designed for killing plant life that is not grass. The straw retains that persistent herbicide residue, it's not like RoundUp that is gone after a few weeks. If I inadvertently use such straw in a garden setting, it may stunt or kill anything I plant that is not grass, and it can last for several years in the soil.
I myself, in my context, would rather deal with any weeds, that come up through the layers of non-sprayed straw, rather than the effects of long-term herbicide residue. I realize a farmer may and surely does have different priorities and as such might very much welcome the benefits of the herbicide.
Hi David, I've not had the experience you've had, but I've only used straw (not hay) as a soil amender mulching or did straw-bale gardening (just one season).
I mentioned in another thread currently running in the NM forum that the village of Ruidoso, where I live, makes available for the taking a ground up mulch of mostly pine tree sawdust and tree waste, including pine needles. They dump it at a convenient spot in town for use by gardeners. Perhaps there is somewhere in the Albq area that does the same thing?
I assume many use it as a mulch on top of the soil in their gardens as a way of preventing weed growth and retaining soil moisture. I have used it as a mulch mixed into my flower bed soil in years past and it seems to degrade quite a bit in a short time.
I mentioned in another thread currently running in the NM forum that the village of Ruidoso, where I live, makes available for the taking a ground up mulch of mostly pine tree sawdust and tree waste, including pine needles. They dump it at a convenient spot in town for use by gardeners. Perhaps there is somewhere in the Albq area that does the same thing?
I assume many use it as a mulch on top of the soil in their gardens as a way of preventing weed growth and retaining soil moisture. I have used it as a mulch mixed into my flower bed soil in years past and it seems to degrade quite a bit in a short time.
Thank you for this idea, I will see if this service is available here, that would be hugely useful! I know after Xmas the city accepts and grinds up people's Xmas trees for a couple of weeks, and the resultant mulch is taken home, but I missed the timeline this year, plus I don't know if it's permitted to take as much as I want, or just my individual tree's worth, haha. I want a lot!
Thank you for this idea, I will see if this service is available here, that would be hugely useful! I know after Xmas the city accepts and grinds up people's Xmas trees for a couple of weeks, and the resultant mulch is taken home, but I missed the timeline this year, plus I don't know if it's permitted to take as much as I want, or just my individual tree's worth, haha. I want a lot!
I have used straw I purchased in Tijeras as mulch and also as a major component to my compost for 2 years in a row, and now believe that my tomato plants that grew in this mulch suffered greatly from herbicide poisioning. The leaves were sparse and very tightly curled & gnarled - just like photos I see online of tomato plants suffering from herbicide poisoning, and production was almost nil. The squash plants did not seem quite as affected.
One suggestion for much is to go to the Tijeras Transfer station -they chip green waste, and I believe you can have it for free. Another is to collect horse manure from horses that have been fed ORGANIC hay (the pesticides from treated hay can be passed into the manure). There is manure at the transfer station also, don't know how "clean" it is from pesticides. You may want to try to find facebook groups for South Valley, North Valley, or East Mountain communities to ask for "clean" manure.
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