What To Do With Leftover Straw? - Straw Bale Gardening Ideas and More
Wondering what to do with old, wet bales and the loose straw created during your home's construction? There is a good chance you will have a lot of straw left over when you complete your bale build, and straw bale gardening may be the perfect destination for it.
If you did your estimating right, most of it would be in the form of loose straw. You will be amazed at just how much loose straw is produced on a straw bale building site!
It is worth noting that this loose straw is dangerous to the entire project as it poses the highest fire risk of any building material on site. Dry, loose piles of straw can catch fire easily!
Be sure to move it away from your structure during your build process and keep a clean job site. Piles of loose straw are also slippery trip hazards, and it is unbelievable how easily tools can disappear into them!
But what to do with it all the loose straw produced?
Straw Bale Gardening - Loose Straw
The best destination for loose straw, wet bales, or those suspect straw bales that weren't of good quality enough for wall installation is to go into growing things! Use the straw in your garden as mulch. Use it to plant potatoes. Spread around to simply decay back into the soil. Use it to make compost, especially if you have chickens.
Speaking of chickens... use it as chicken bedding or for other livestock. There are so many wonderful uses for the "waste straw" that it really isn't waste at all. Not too many conventional building materials can honestly make a claim such as that!
If you do not have the space to use all of the straw, try contacting your local farmers, checking in with neighbors, or asking your nearby community gardens coordinator if they could use the extra mulch. Many, especially those who grow vegetables on small-scale farms, will be thrilled to have free mulch.
Some farmers make organic compost that needs straw as one of many ingredients in their mixes. The point is the loose straw is never truly wasted if you take the time to find a good home for it.
Straw Bale Gardening - Leftover Construction Bales
Now what about the leftover 'good' bales? These might include the partial bales from re-shaping or those included in the 10% extra we recommend when ordering bales (because it is WAY better to have a few too many than come up short!)
Learn more about calculating how many straw bales are needed in your build here.
Extra bales on the job site are great to have around as steps, workbenches, or scaffolding supports when plastering.
If the bales are in good condition for construction but were not used, you might be able to sell them to someone interested in building or in need of bales for something else. Or, consider a landscape wall for your yard!
If you have just a few bales remaining, you could use them as planters. It's actually pretty cool and a great way to grow plants in limited space or deal with poor soil. It also helps if you have difficulty bending over as the bales lift the plants 18" or so off the ground.
Carve out holes in the top of the bales and plant directly into the bales. The straw keeps the roots insulated, moist, and slows the breakdown of the bales while providing food for the plants.
In addition, the roots have free run of the place throughout the bale, making a stronger plant. When you are ready to harvest the plant for the last time, you can throw the whole planter into the compost and begin the cycle for next year!
Here's an example of a potato garden in straw bales and a great learning resource on getting started in straw bale gardening.
Of course, you can do plenty of other ideas with bales. Build the kids a fort. Protect areas from runoff. Build a garden seat. Be creative and have fun!
