What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

Any suburban folks use straw or hay? Where do you source it? I've seen it for $8-$10 for a bale. I feel like that's a lot.

You will save money if you find a local supplier direct from farm than the farm store that is upping the price to get a cut. I sell grass hay bales for 5, alfalfa horse quality for 8, wheat or oat straw for 8 and barley straw for 10.

When we sell to the tractor store that's what it is bought for too. Then they mark it up to 10-15 a bale.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Yep. I hop on craigslist. I order 10-20 bales of grass mix hay from a local farm (a little clover and alfalfa mixed in) and 3-7 bales of straw depending on what I'm expecting to need. I pay $75 to have it delivered to me in the 'burbs and it's still cheaper than buying from TSC/farm stores when I go out to get feed. An order like that lasts me a year.

Straw goes in the garden and henhouse because it's cheap and the open texture of straw is better for bedding and compost. Hay is animal feed and bedding for the rabbits only and goes in the compost when it's done. It's more expensive than hay. On a bad year I've paid $11/bale for hay. On a good year it's $4. Never bought straw for more than $5/bale. Local prices will vary.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Around here they want you to buy 100 or more bales at a time ..
Would like a bit of alfalfa for the birds but that is all I have is chickens

 

[BReeder!]

Around here they want you to buy 100 or more bales at a time ..
Would like a bit of alfalfa for the birds but that is all I have is chickens

I want it for outdoor bedding in the chicken and duck runs and for mulching the garden. I have four bales from the Fall that were used as decoration. I'll be lucky if these are going to be enough to mulch the planting areas of the garden, but I'll need more for the runs and of course I'll need to add to or replace the run bedding from time to time. I too see people asking for order minimums of 100 bales. They want to sell a truckload, when I just need a few at a time. I don't have room to store a large quantities of bales either.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I use white shavings in the coopsas hey or straw rot, they mold in our wet weather here

 

[David61]

My deep litter run had eaten all my wood chips, leaves and grass clippings down to fine black dirt. So it took down the fence and dug out 12 or 15 wheel barrels of chicken compost and dressed the garden and flower beds 2-4" . i'll turn the ground next month. it should be rained in and ready to plant by march 15. That is our last chance for a freeze around here. i'm germinating seeds next week.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I've only bought straw from the the farm store once. It was $10 a bale. I use pine shavings for bedding and for the run. The bales are compressed 8 cubic feet at $6 per bale. These are dried and wrapped in plastic so easy to store in the garage. I ordered my seeds today finally. Things are selling out already. I used two different vendors. The potatoes are coming from Gurneys and they don't ship until it's planting time which saves me the headache of storing them. The corn I ordered only grows to 5 or 6 feet tall which is fine. Yesterday was damp and a bit blustery with winds gusts between 30 to 50 mph. Today the winds are not as bad, but there's not much to do outside anyway. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Melky]

Absolutely nothing its frozen. Not much to do till spring. I did order some Chicken Salad Seed Mix for spring to plant greens for the chicks. They love this treat so buy when on sale. Other than that not much to do. I have plans to clean out compost bins to base this year when thawed outside and no snow. I just dream of spring when warm and everything in bloom.

 

[Decoyman]

Might be a good day for weeding here as the chickweed is nice and lush - perfect for some roosters and hens to enjoy as a healthful snack! They can not free range now as the hawks are screaming overhead.

 

[Melky]

The bright note I only had to put straw out once so far this year in the run. Not as wet as last year yeah!