Straw Is Amazing For Your Garden, IF It's Safe.

Without straw I couldn't garden...but it could also disable my garden for years if I sourced it from the wrong place! On the plus side it cuts my water usage in half, build amazing soil, makes my compost, keeps my soil heathy, is a growing medium, and stops weeds from ever growing. It could also be covered in persistent herbicides which could kill my entire garden and poison it for years. BUT I believe it is worth it and I will show you how to ensure your straw is safe!

IN THIS VIDEO

( I have used their "Conventional" Straw with no issues but it isn't certified)

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DISCLAIMER

[jcking]

If this YT gig doesn’t work out for you, (hopefully it does), you should have no trouble finding work as an instructor of some kind; you are a natural-born teacher! Thanks for another great video.

[afireinside]

All I can pay attention to it that insane purple plant in the background

[adonalarrington]

People really buying bags of organic straw for $110??? I'm in the wrong business 😂

[markfields]

I repotted my herbs into grow bags. To save potting mix, I filled the bottoms of the grow bags with straw, then potting mix (homemade), then topped with straw for mulch. All plants are thriving.

[a.l.a.]

You are such a GREAT teacher, Jacques! I learned so much from this video. Thank you!

[melissakarner]

I thought I was doing something wrong because all my worms are right below the straw mulch in my garden. Now I know why. You have some of the best videos for explaining and teaching the perfect content. Thank You.

[shelbysieber]

I had a soil biology test done last year and had really great fungal presence in the soil, turns out the straw mulch I had been using builds great soil life!

[umiluv]

I use dried grass from the lawn which acts very similarly to straw. My husband dethatches the lawn every spring and there’s enough to last me the whole season and then some.

[heatherpatel]

I love the GeoloJacques academic integrity, giving a disclaimer before spitballing. This helps me feel more confident in the other information!

[lesliee]

I use gardenstraw that I’ve purchased from Epic Gardening. The bags are extremely compressed. I’ve used 2 of the small bags to top my 40+ grow bags. In California where water is expensive and we’ve been in a drought for three summers it made more sense to buy straw mulch to help keep my soil cool and retain moisture. When a few wheat seeds do sprout I let them grow and then remove the plants. I get free straw this way.

[ceecee-thetransplantedgardener]

I absolutely love straw as a mulch for all the reasons you've named. However, for my recent experience, the pill bugs have gotten so bad, they totally ignored the straw mulch and took out several plants by eating away the fine root hairs of newer plants. Right now - I am stuck between keeping the soil cooler and moister for the plants but also keeping the pill bug population thriving - or - staving off the pill bugs by letting the soil get drier and warmer, which creates unhappier plants. THAT said, I have a feeling this video is the reason EVERY place is sold out of GardenStraw. 🤣

[mantis]

I buy straw bales, spread out one sleeve at a time and run over it with my lawn mower.. I have the bag on and it does a great job of shredding the straw up for my garden.

[COLDad]

Bought a compressed cut wheat straw bale from Anderson Straw and then saw this video. I did some checking and wasnt able to find much online before I put it on my garden. I was not crazy about waiting a few weeks to test. I went to Anderson's site and asked if they used any persistent herbicides. They replied within 24 hours and assured me that the wheat straw was safe and they use an herbicide early on in the growing cycle and it is out of the plant after three weeks and they follow regulations that guard food production and the straw was completely safe and is used in gardens across the country.
I am confidently putting it on my garden today and will update if anything goes south, but I was stoked they actually got back to me so quickly. So kudos to Anderson for reaching out so quickly.

[industrialtumbleweed]

I’m in SoCal and I switched from straw mulch in most of my beds to course wood shavings. I have a duel problem with straw in that the wind blows it all over the place & what the wind doesn’t blow around the birds fling & scratch everywhere. So far the wood shavings have stayed in place from the wind, the birds have been leaving it alone & my plants seem happy. I’ll see at the end of this season.

[jeannamcgregor]

This is 100% the gospel truth for dry-climate gardening! I've tried lots of mulching methods and always come back to straw as the best method for mulching. My favorite method is to buy the straw bales in the fall and let them sit out in the rain all winter so they are a bit degraded by spring so the straw is soft and pliable and forming mats. That's the best mulch and compost brown layer! Thanks, Jacques!

[thsluglord]

I use two or three year old straw/hay. I use some for wind protection against the house over winters, and i feed livestock with it, so ill gather up all the loose stuff or moldy stuff and use it for top dressing, walkway covering, and even to mix into my homegrown compost. It has done me great so far along with home sourced aged goat pellets. I love spreading some old hay that riddled with mycelium, im sure its great for my soil biome.

[drevinatorslaw]

I’m very thankful for this video. I’m in San Diego as well, and bought straw for mulch a month ago. I was stressing out watching this video just now until I realized, I have it on my pole beans, which have grown 7’ in one month and have gorgeous perfect leaves, so thankfully it looks like that straw was great, too! 😅😅😅

[emac]

My tomatoes and peppers that were ruined from herbicide looked really good for a long while before the damage appeared...so I think longer testing is warranted.

[leighannf.]

I am loving the GardenStraw I got from Epic. I have to water WAY less often (for certain crops) because it retains moisture so well! My veggie plants all love it.

[MrGRockin]

I crunch up bags of leaves in the fall and keep them for mulch in the spring 😊