Hay!

[hermetic]

Wow, I've been away for a bit and Rural is gone! And here I have a farm kind of question. It's about hay/straw.

Just bought a home in a rural area and it's been vacant for 3 years. So, the yard is pretty much void of grass. I looked up how to plant grass in the fall here and it says to put down seed, water, and then cover with 3" of straw. Or maybe it said hay. I never knew there was a difference.

Last week my elderly lady neighbor was cleaning out her shed and told me I could have anything I wanted and there were these two bales of straw/hay. I said I'd take those. So, today, they were deposited in my back yard. And I moved them onto my covered, cement patio. Then, I got to wondering if they were safe there, or a fire hazard. They will only sit there for a few weeks before I spread them. But I'm still not sure if it's hay or straw. So, here's a picture.




Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[liberal N proud]

1. Straw

That looks like straw from the pic.

Set some pumpkins on them.

[hermetic]

2. Thanks

I did think about putting them in the front yard for Halloween but that's a ways off yet and it's supposed to rain some next week. They've been inside a shed for goodness knows how long so are quite dry. Do you think they would like some rain? I don't really know anything about straw, but I don't want it to rot.

[liberal N proud]

6. They used to fill barns with it to keep it dry

Some would be stored for years.

If you plan on spreading it out in a few weeks, it will not hurt it to get wet. Just don't spread if it is moldy.

[TygrBright]

3. Straw is wonderful for gardens. Hay, not so much.

Straw is the byproduct of threshing wheat, in which the seeds are removed, leaving the stalks. Straw is useful for many purposes-- as a winter mulch, slow composting, insulation and bedding for animal enclosures, etc.

Hay is dried grasses, and often includes the seed heads. It's used as feed.

When you put hay on the ground, those seed heads do what nature intended.

So the difference matters.

helpfully,
Bright

[Thor_MN]

4. Around here, we use marsh grass as mulch for newly planted grass seed

Marsh grass propagates by rhizome, so there's no seed in a marsh grass bale of "straw". Hay would have seeds, Straw, much less.

[alfie]

5. Lucky you!

It is tightly bound so unlikely to burn. Perfect to mulch over your newly sown grass seed.

[hermetic]

7. Thank you, all!

This was kind of an important thing for me to decide on. You all came through, with great advice. Which is why I asked here. You guys are the awesomenest!!

So, here.....




Pleasant dreams and tomorrows...

[MuseRider]

8. The rural group is found under People :-)

If you can pick it up easily it is probably straw. I have never picked up a light bale of hay. It looks like straw but you never know.

It should be fine. I have an entire barn full of hay that is combustible if you are not careful who and how they bale it but I have never heard that about straw. It might be true but my guess is you are just fine.