All that straw could be dangerously toxic to your soil, so I think you should ship all of it to me, here in Washington State. Free shipping, right?

Sue (grinning evilly, and gleefully rubbing hands together in anticipation)

p.s. If you INSIST on using it all yourself, it kind of depends on how you want to use it. If you want to put it around planted crops (potatoes, for instance, or recently transplanted tomatoes, peppers, etc), I would start with about 3" of straw, then gradually build it up to 8-12" as the plant grows.

If you want to use it to keep weeds down and improve the soil, mow or flatten the weeds and spread the straw out about a foot deep.

Sue

My dad always let his tomatoes sprawl and mulched them with straw. That was decades ago and I was very young, so I can't tell you the details. I can assure you it worked just fine though. I can remember those delicious tomatoes perfectly.

Jim

If you don't ship it to Sue, can I be next in line? Straw is hard to get here so we use hay. Like she said - deep. I start with 4-6" and put on new layers as the plants grow.

Dave

The previous owners left ya a nice welcome home gift..those bales are going for 7.00 each down here...
I have no info to give ya...the rest have given excellent advice..

Happy Gardening..

I've used it about a foot thick in the paths between the beds, and lighter on the beds themselves, tho I don't mulch until the ground is warm, so as not to insulate the cold soil from the sun's warmth. (If the sun ever comes out, that is!)

It's also great in a compost pile as a dry ingredient. You're lucky!!