What Happens to Bales of Straw/Cane if You Just Leave Them?

G'day, Everyone; I know to some, my enthusiasm for decaying organic matter might be a tad "eye-rolling", but I can't help but get excited/fascinated about the most basic aspects of down-to-earth gardening. Thanks (as always) for your kind support! Get into it! Cheers :)

Mark, a good idea that you may be missing out on is using these straw bales as culinary mushroom substrate. I bought 5 bales and inoculated them with a bag of oyster mushroom grain spawn. over the course of our winter and early spring I harvested well over 20lbs of oyster mushrooms that I ate sautéed on steaks, or made beef stroganoff, or dehydrated for soups and stews, and still had enough to make an entire quart jar of mushroom powder for seasoning. The mushrooms break down the straw faster and make a wonderful composted product. plus, you can literally just keep adding bales on top of this pile where the mycelium is present or use the mycelium to innoculate new bales, and it will keep consuming the new substrate and producing new flushes of mushrooms when the weather produces the right fruiting conditions (Damp 60-75F degree days, especially if overcast).

My man showing a lump of compost like a boy finding a perfect rock, wholesome.

outdoor dog zoomies are always a pleasure to see

I’m a gardener and I 100% understand your excitement over this beautiful natural product. Loads of nourishment and energy in that compost. Excellent as always Mark 👍👍🇦🇺🇬🇧🇦🇺🇬🇧

I just love your passion for the compost. And the small zoomie woof, she's so happy, it's awesome. Love your content.

People who don’t garden won’t understand….but i do.❤❤❤

Kids love playing in the dirt. Gardeners never outgrow that! 😁

Bella has so much energy it's a pleasure to see her zooming in and out!

Ruth Stout wrote a very good book called "Gardening without work". She was a big proponent of buying spoiled straw that was no good a stock food and letting it break down in her garden. She was an early no-dig gardener.

even the pup saw clearly, the magic of living compost

Colour change is probably to do with the oxygen peneration of the soil. Perhaps the inner sections are waterlogged for example, the rest wets and dries. The constantly wet low oxygen areas are probably turning into something more like peat. I imagine the moulds that grow and temperature matters but i'm not an expert myself.

Woohoo - you've struck gold! Black gold!

Mark this is brilliant. This process is the essence of organic agriculture, the by-products feeding the soil. No artificial fertilizer needed. NB: It's now been proven that it's the soil microbes that feed your plants via micronutrients and fungi, not costly chemical add-ons.

Thanks mate.( Brit in Canada) I have a few straw bales that have been sitting for a year. everyone says throw them out and I have been sayimng no they are dandy for the garden...Glad to have the verification. Cheers

In southern US, the 'shield' method of lifting things is advised as well. Our rattlers aren't as bad as your browns, but still not critters you want to take a bite from.

Here your sugar cane mulch is my straw. I love what they break down to. The best dirt ever!!❤

Old straw bales are fantastic! We add manure and let them rest through winter. We grow most of our containers directly in the blend. IMO, its the best soil enhancement available.

Got to love his face playing around with the dirt. Amazed like a kid. I learnt a lot from you about the joys of gardening, and that’s exactly how I make my compost during the summer, I have 3 big baskets made from fencing net, that I fill with all the grass from the lawn, dry leaves and bush cuttings of the season that I leave out in the open in direct contact with the ground. I get piles of free compost all year long doing nothing

Mark, I think your pup could have her own channel. She's such a happy, cute pup. She steals the scene every time we watch your videos :)