Huge supply of hay

seemasfriend

My son has two large bales of hay that have been spoiled when water got into the plastic covering. They are mine to use as I see fit but other than adding to compost which I have already done, I am at a loss as to how to use it. Any ideas please?

rum1

my dad used to dig a trench and put rotten hay and grass cuttings in it and then plant runner beans on the top of them they always seemed to well

rhosynbach

some people use hay and straw on top of the potatoes instead of adding earth the potatoes grow in the hay/straw and are clean. you can also plant directly into bales

poppysarah

Mulch!

Good for spuds and tons of other stuff. Will rot down where it touches the soil.

You can look up straw bale gardening

djohn2002uk

Whatever you do don't dig it into your garden. Been there, done that, got the t shirt, Next year you end up with a garden like a hay meadow from all the seed in the hay. Believe me from experience from when we had a pony for our daughter. Straw is OK for helping with heavy clay, but not hay.

seemasfriend

djohn2002uk wrote: »

Whatever you do don't dig it into your garden. Been there, done that, got the t shirt, Next year you end up with a garden like a hay meadow from all the seed in the hay. Believe me from experience from when we had a pony for our daughter. Straw is OK for helping with heavy clay, but not hay.

Thank you so much for this advice. Without it I would blithely have dug it in! I am composting it with fresh manure which will kill all the seeds as long as the mound heats up well.

seemasfriend

Thanks Poppysarah and rhosynbach for the idea about potatoes. I have two hundred chitting ready to go in soon. Will defo investigate the straw bale gardening:)