Straw Composting - Die Weed Seeds Die!
by
Val Frania {Love My DIY Home}
(IC: blogger)
1 Material
We bought a house on an acre of land in Wisconsin that had an old overgrown fenced in garden with grape vines along one side. We tripled it in size last year and have been working on improving the soil. The new 2/3s was more dirt than soil. Do you have dirt or soil in your garden?
1. The straw helps keep the moisture from evaporating rapidly from the ground in the heat.
2. The straw helps keep the weeds at bay by limiting the sun exposure to the weed seeds.
3. When the straw decomposes, it adds nutrients to the soil and invites worms – worms are good!
4. The straw provides a protective barrier for under vegis like squash and pumpkins.
5. The straw covers the dirt, giving a nice bed to kneel on and prevents slipping in the mud after a rain (side benefits).
Rather than buy the expensive weed hamper, I used and old hamper from when my dd was a teen. Free is good! Repurposing is better than buying new.
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Suggested materials:
- Straw (Local Garden Center)
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Published July 28th, 2016 11:28 AM
Comments
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3 of 24 comments
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Ker2227175 on Sep 08, 2016Val have you ever tried mulch in your garden?
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Val Frania {Love My DIY Home} on Sep 09, 2016Yes, I'll be mulching it before winter.
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Val Frania {Love My DIY Home} on Jun 19, 2017
I'm happy to announce that using the straw was stellar last year - I didn't have to constantly weed the garden and between that and the worm castings I used, I had a great harvest! I just threw down straw for my garden again this year. I wish I'd known this trick for my first three years of gardening! I did get some slugs, but the DE helped protect my plants. The losses due to slugs were minimal and worth not having to weed.
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