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muddy45
- Full Member
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:38 am
- Location: lake of the ozarks area missouri
my nieghbor down the road had a heart attack and died in the early summer,,he raised a bout five calves every year.
he had 10 big bales of mixed hay setting down there,so I asked his buddy who was getting the place ready for to be sold if I could buy all ten bales,,he sold me 8 of the ten bales for ten dollars a piece.
I also bought the big tarps he had covering them.
I took 5 of them and made a dog house out of them for my big dogs till I am ready to use them,,I call it my dog cave and they love it.
I had him put one close to my duck pen to use to soak up the duck doo doo in the pen,,gets pretty nasty in there at times.
it well be next years compost or mulch if it don't break down by next fall.
I have had all my beds covered with it all winter ,,we just had a january thaw,so I put another two and a half foot on top of the 2 1/2 ft. I put on in the fall, under all that mulch is a lot of pigeon chicken and rabbit poo composting for spring.
I worked the manure in pretty deep,maybe a foot.
thats my two cents
Larry
he had 10 big bales of mixed hay setting down there,so I asked his buddy who was getting the place ready for to be sold if I could buy all ten bales,,he sold me 8 of the ten bales for ten dollars a piece.
I also bought the big tarps he had covering them.
I took 5 of them and made a dog house out of them for my big dogs till I am ready to use them,,I call it my dog cave and they love it.
I had him put one close to my duck pen to use to soak up the duck doo doo in the pen,,gets pretty nasty in there at times.
it well be next years compost or mulch if it don't break down by next fall.
I have had all my beds covered with it all winter ,,we just had a january thaw,so I put another two and a half foot on top of the 2 1/2 ft. I put on in the fall, under all that mulch is a lot of pigeon chicken and rabbit poo composting for spring.
I worked the manure in pretty deep,maybe a foot.
thats my two cents
Larry
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 29831
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Wow, this drifted way off the original topic, but I'm really enjoying the hay bale discussion this is turning into. So my solution was to re-name the thread! 
Thanks to folks who responded re: the cornstarch based film mulch. Since I've never been in favor of using plastic film mulch, and the consensus here seems to be to go with more substantial OM mulch, AND since I'm heading for a more sustainable practices anyway, I guess I won't bother to buy any, and work on other ways to warm up the soil. (BTW, did you notice that the clear one is ONLY for use with SWEET corn? I wonder if that has anything to do with the corn based weed killer product...?)
Thanks to folks who responded re: the cornstarch based film mulch. Since I've never been in favor of using plastic film mulch, and the consensus here seems to be to go with more substantial OM mulch, AND since I'm heading for a more sustainable practices anyway, I guess I won't bother to buy any, and work on other ways to warm up the soil. (BTW, did you notice that the clear one is ONLY for use with SWEET corn? I wonder if that has anything to do with the corn based weed killer product...?)
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The Helpful Gardener
- Mod
- Posts: 7491
- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
- Location: Colchester, CT
Not so far off topic in my mind, AS. Mulching is a choice of alternatives and if plastic style sheeting is your choice, then by all means, choose this new stuff. I think exploring alternatives is still germane to the discussion, and hay is certainly a good one... for mulch, human, or canine habitat it appears... 
HG
HG
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gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
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The Helpful Gardener
- Mod
- Posts: 7491
- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
- Location: Colchester, CT
Apple,
When I put out floating row covers in the spring the soil under there is always much warmer. Than ambient. I use mid weight fabric.
I have seen very large rolls for farmers. They allow air and water and spores and such to mostly pass, but keep out weed seeds, flying and surface walking pests, those stupid freaking house sparrows that eat your pea shoots.
you can keep your plants covered until they pollinate. They grow faster. Much faster. And here's my favorite: you don't need to harden off most starts if you plant under a cover. Sweet, eh?
When I put out floating row covers in the spring the soil under there is always much warmer. Than ambient. I use mid weight fabric.
I have seen very large rolls for farmers. They allow air and water and spores and such to mostly pass, but keep out weed seeds, flying and surface walking pests, those stupid freaking house sparrows that eat your pea shoots.
you can keep your plants covered until they pollinate. They grow faster. Much faster. And here's my favorite: you don't need to harden off most starts if you plant under a cover. Sweet, eh?
lol I was just answering... Lol. That is pretty funny.applestar wrote:Wow, this drifted way off the original topic, but I'm really enjoying the hay bale discussion this is turning into. So my solution was to re-name the thread!
...
I guess I won't bother to buy any, and work on other ways to warm up the soil.
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The Helpful Gardener
- Mod
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- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
- Location: Colchester, CT